Young Love
by Zmeyette
Summary: My second fanfic! Teen Dimitri and teen Rose meets. Full Summary inside. Please READ and REVIEW! NOW COMPLETE!
1. One: Drawbacks

_The past can never be avoided no matter how hard we try… it will always stay with us, waiting to mess with the present._

Rose is just recovering from an ex-boyfriend's tragic death, her previous accident where loved ones had dies and a silent departure of a good friend.

Rose tries her best to get over the past and forget those times but when she just when realizes that she has pined, another mysterious stranger walks in her messed-up life.

Dimitri Belikov had always been good at everything except for his family. He had killed a sister of his but there is still more that he just wanted to drown in with attitude.

Searching for a new start, he transfers to another school only to meet what he desperately wanted to avoid.

This is a story about past-reckoning, illicit passion for battle, and reconciliation of broken family ties.

Chapter 1

"Mister Belikov," Guardian Ivanov called to me in front of the class. Everybody in the classroom tensed and quieted, waiting to see if I'll pounce on the forty year-old Guardian in front. Luckily, I just turned my eyes on him. "Headmistress Vladescu is requesting your presence at her office." He said, looking into my eye. I just stared at him – well maybe the whole class could see that I was glaring at the old man – and I saw him flinch and he made an excuse of adjusting his eye glasses. "Now." Brave word. I gave him one last glower, got my bag and took off to see the Headmistress' office.

As soon as I got out of the room, I could hear the people outside shuffling awkwardly – I always had this effect on them. I thought that it was because of my height – I was quite tall for my age of seventeen and a half – I was topping now to six foot five and a half. Sometimes, people thought that I was already on my early twenties and so-on because I was too tall and big for my age. Maybe because it was my face – it was always so tense but inside, I was laughing at those people who looked so scared of me. I had a little year and a few months to practice keeping on a poker face but in this case, I guess it looked like more of a devil face.

A girl was staring at me – a Moroi – a tall thin brunette. She was hugging her books to her chest while walking slowly, looking like she wasn't sure what to do and then she stumbled on her own feet. She was tall so she was clumsy, I concluded. Normally, I would have helped any girl who had fallen or whatever but there was a reason why my heart had hardened. Yeah, the reason was pretty obvious. It was because I had killed one Strigoi.

Not just any Strigoi but that Strigoi was my little sister, Viktoria.

_---------------------Flashback---------------------_

_I opened the door to my house here in Baia. It was dusk so I wondered where they all were. It was quiet. I was excited to see my sisters, mom, and my grandmother, Yeva. Yeah, I managed to keep this a secret from my family but with Yeva, it was unlikely – no surprise. My grandmother always had these authentic powers of having premonitions and other abilities the people sometimes call her a witch but she was the nicest witch I had ever known, strict but kind. I just thought that Yeva was only special and very wise._

_And Olena, ah, I loved my mother. I could already imagine her baking my favorite bread but as I passed the kitchen, she was not. It was strange that nobody was in the house, they rarely weren't._

_Hm, Yeva must have sensed that I needed this to be a secret. I sneaked around the house, trying to find any of my family members. There was none. Seconds later, I could hear footsteps, soft and stubborn ones. I guess it was Yeva's._

_Within a second, Yeva was in front of me, looking as serious as always. Uh-oh, I know this expression. Something was wrong. Yeva had that deadly look on her eyes and that only meant trouble was coming. No, bigger than trouble. She looked right up to me intensely, her eyes were concealed with shadows and her lips were set into a grim line._

"_Dimka, your sister Viktoria is Strigoi." Yeva was not the one to hesitate on saying stuffs. She was always pushing us on discussing uncomfortable parts – like me – but this was beyond uncomfortable. This was horrible, I couldn't even think straight. "She is on her way here. She wants to make us Strioi, too." I was shocked, I couldn't move._

_No, I wasn't supposed to be like this. I was trained to be a Guardian, to fight and kill these evil creatures. Yes, I was trained to kill Strigoi but not my sister! I looked at Yeva's eyes but there was no trace of deception there._ _Only the decision._

"_Where is mama?" I asked, wanting to know if she was alright._

"_I let them hide upstairs so they wouldn't see this." Yeva started moving. She grabbed a key from her pocket and opened a black rectangular box. It looked ancient and expensive. Yeva opened it to reveal a very sharp and dangerous looking sword. "We have ten minutes before she comes." Yeva said and handed me the sword. I stiffened, I was out of time, I wasn't ready to kill my Stigoi sister. I could not kill her. Yeva muttered something under her breath which sounded like a prayer and then she gave me the sword. She looked up at me intently. I still kept my face straight despite the pain of _knowing_ I was going to kill my sister and the grief of losing her in such a young age. Tears were springing to my eyes but I held them down. A Guardian should not cry._

_I was expecting here to see all of my family members, not kill them. Or rather one of them._

"_Dimitri." Yeva snapped. She looked so sure of this._

"_Do not hesitate." She enunciated every word properly. "Viktoria is not what she was before. If you would kill her, her soul would be in peace, unlike this, you are endangering her from hesitating. Not only is her soul in peril but also _you_ and your family. Trust me on this, Dimitri." And then she led me to where Viktoria would enter. It was hard to listen to Yeva's instructions when my chest is aching. I tried to look like Yeva, so calm. I listened to Yeva; Viktoria was going to enter on the back door so no one could see, I could decapitate her easily, as she had said. The sword was made like a silver stake, too. Joined with all the Moroi magic to create this sword in my hand._

_After that, she left. "I have faith in you, Dimka." She called and then I was alone._

_My heart was pounding so hard and my head hurt, I thought I would collapse in any second. My eyes blurred from the tears and I let them fall freely on my face. My hands were occupied; I was holding the sword so tightly that my knuckles were white. And then I heard footsteps._

_My enhanced dhampir hearing was a blessing because a Strigoi could move so silently. I raised the sword, readying to decapitate _this_ Strigoi. She was no Viktoria anymore, I said to myself. She is a Strigoi, an unnatural being. They don't deserve to live in this world. They were undead. She is not herself anymore, she has killed many and drank blood from innocent people, I strengthened myself toward my hatred to Strigoi. The door opened and she got inside. Her skin was deathly pale, that was all I could see because she was looking at the other direction – opposite from me. If I could just only see her eyes…_

Don't hesitate_, whispered a voice inside my head._

_And with that, I swung the sword with all my force. The sword was so sharp, her head slid off like a chopped off candle and the sword stuck on the door panel half-way deep._

_And that was when I killed my sister._

_--------------------End of Flashback--------------------_

As I was walking toward Headmistress Vladescu's office, I saw her secretary freeze. Maybe she could see through my murderous past. Of course, it was plastered on my face. Or maybe I just looked like that I was going to murder somebody in any second. I walked past her to the door, not bothering to knock. I knew the Headmistress was expecting me.

Headmistress Vladescu was, as usual, looking down, signing papers, I thought. "Mister Belikov," she said without looking up at me. "Please have a seat." She gestured to a chair with her other hand that was not writing. Headmistress Vladescu was the busiest woman I have ever known. Whenever I come here to her office – which was often – I would always see that she was working. My constant visit to her never failed her occupation of being a _very_ busy woman. But now, miraculously, she dropped her pen and looked at me squarely in the eye. It was the first time she had looked at me directly. And her eyes nearly blinded me at the intensity of her cat-green eyes – it suited her just fine.

I could see that other guardians were in the room. Two of them – the woman was petite with short curly red hair and the guy was Guardian Alexandrov here from our school. Both of them wore the same blank expression.

"Dimtri, I must tell you that I will be straightforward in this." the Headmistress said and I nodded. "We have decided to relocate you to another St. Vladimir's in a more secluded area unlike here in Alaska. There is a clear consensus that in the area you are in, secluded Montana Mountains, you will have _fresh_ start from your…past." She said, never blinking.

"You don't have to use compulsion on me Headmistress Vladescu, I accept your offer." I told her, trying to make fun.

"It is not an offer but it is a request to transfer, Mr. Belikov." She said seriously. Clearly, she was not amused by my wry joke to lighten her mood.

"Either way, I accept." I turned stoic again.

"Very well." She turned the paper and shuffled it. "You have two hours to pack and Guardian Alexandrov will escort you to the runway and Guardian Hathaway will be your chaperone to St. Vladimir's in Montana." She said and handed the bundle of papers on the person beside me. It was the short redhead guardian – for such a small person, she could move fast. She and Vladescu exchanged nods and glanced at me.

"I'll see you in the jet." Her voice was as blank as her face. I nodded and I stalked off to my room.

"Oh, and Mr. Belikov," Vladescu called. I stopped on y tracks but didn't turn around – I knew she was writing again now. "Make sure to have _that_ fresh new start I was talking about. Not only from your past but also your behavior. I'll be checking on you from time to time, remember that. You will also attend before and after classes training sessions – your talent is such a waste if you won't improve that with a good character. You are dismissed."

_**Rose POV**_

"Liss, I'm alright." I told her like for the hundredth time. She was pressuring me about healing the scratches on my face that I got during combat classes with Alto.

"No, you are not. Have you seen your face in the mirror?" Lissa looked really concerned. I haven't been really able to see my own face in the mirror after my fight, so I was curious; it didn't hurt much. She handed me her compact, I didn't want to be rude so I grabbed it and flipped it open.

"Son of a bitch!" I screamed, all the people in the cafeteria turned to look at me. I glared at them and they turned their attention back on their food. I swear I was going to kill Stan Alto for this. The face on the mirror just screamed HORROR at me. I closed the compact a little forcefully and I should, I wondered if the glass had broken. My breathing was hard and my I was seeing red.

"I told you." Lissa mumbled under her breath. She grabbed my and we escaped to the nearest empty room. She sighed and looked at me, smiling a little. She touched some of the spots where the ugly cuts and bruises were on my face and I could feel it tingle a little. And then there it was the happiness and golden feelings that came along at using her magic. I was healed. She smiled at me radiantly.

"Thanks, Liss," I told her and hugged her. I could feel something from the bond that she was hiding something from me. I grabbed her wrist and looked at her squarely in the eye.

"Lissa, what is it?" I could feel guilt radiating from her.

"I'll tell you later." She almost begged. I gave her a scowl and let her go.

"This better be good, keeping it from me." I grumbled.

"It's safe, I promise." Her eyes were bright with innocence.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, I'm going to practice." We parted and I jogged to the gym. I saw Alberta there, talking to a very tall guy. Huh, I haven't heard about new Guardians… or even new novices if he was a novice – which was unlikely, noting his height. Even looking at his back, he looked really _hot_. As I could see from my vantage, he had chin-length brown hair and absolutely broad shoulders. If he weren't even a Guardian I would have started hitting on him as soon as I possibly can.

Alberta caught me there. "Miss Hathaway, I was just here to tell you that I cannot be in your training today because Headmistress Kirova sent me and the other Guardians to the Royal Court. I will be back in two day at the least. And by the way, you have a new training partner." The tall man turned around to look at me. I swear, my heart just stopped beating when I saw him. He was every inch as hot as I thought he would be. I marveled every inch of him; the hard square of his jaw, the tan of his skin, the stubborn form of his absolutely kiss-worthy mouth, his adorable brown eyes and I managed to tear my eyes away from his face and took pleasure at watching his strong, lean, muscular arms.

"Miss Hathaway, please meet Dimitri Belikov, a transfer student from the St. Vladimir's in Alaska." Alberta introduced us. I gave super hot Dimitri my best man-eating smile. I swore my heart just skipped a beat when he smiled back a hundred watt smile. "And I hope you two get along well." Her voice had risen; clearly, the message was directed to me. I looked at Alberta with an innocent expression.

"Oh, we will." I practically purred. And I was really glad had Lissa healed me before.

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**skyluvtsark09**


	2. Two: First Sight

**OMG, guys. Thank you for your reviews, you really gave me inspiration. Since it is a school day, I might not be able to update as soon as I can. Exams are next week so I need to cram but I promise!!! I will update if I get those many inspiring reviews!**

As soon as Alberta gave us the instruction on what we were supposed to do, she left. When I was sure she was out of sight or ear sight, I gave Dimitri my best leer. I opened the door to the gym and got inside. This Dimitri guy was really scorching hot and tall and is making my hormones go on overload. He was _totally_ my type. Class A stereotypical Rose type of guy. I didn't know how I kept myself from doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with him (I think he's the only one who can _take my breath away_) instead of stretching. It was a really good idea to wear sports bra and shorts if I wanted him to like me – even only physically. Am I really that desperate for him to like me?

I pulled my hair into a high ponytail, trying to show off my two un-promised _molnija_ marks. Yeah, I had killed Strigoi. Two to be exact.

It was when Lissa and I had gone to shopping – I know, it sounds so girly and materialistic but hey, we love to shop – and then two dumb-assed Strigoi jumped in. It was pretty easy killing them – uh, no, it was easy on the staking part. But the fighting part? It was kind of a challenge but hey, I'm the best novice in school, it was a good kind of challenge.

_----------------------Flashback---------------------_

"_Liss, I think this is the best day of my life." I told Lissa, all giggly. Lissa and I had bought almost half the mall with her gold card. There were shoes, clothes, bags and everything I could have wished for._

_This day on, I _am_ going to mark this as special. I loved all what happened today – okay, not all because Guardian Alto is with us. He was the one chaperoning us and he did technically nothing on his part. He was blending in to the people in the mall, making sure he didn't look like a stalker following us. I thought that he was overdoing the blending in part though because when we got to the parking lot, a nauseous feeling knotted in my stomach. And then my dhampir senses picked up very subtle footsteps heading our way. It was right behind us._

"_Hathaway!" I heard Alto scream. I whirled arounf, putting myself in front of Lissa and I saw the Strigoi: their sking were sickly pale almost grey and their eyes were the ugliest color of dried blood. This was my first Strigoi attack; could this day get any more exciting?_

_I thought when fighting Strigoi was just like in the movies when everything goes on slow motion but this was like fast forward. The Strigoi in front of me – tall, dark and ugly – was sprinting toward me, with my other hand that was not holding Lissa back, was my silver stake. I stroked the stake at the Strigoi before he could get too near. He screamed in pure agony. I could see that Guardian Alto was fighting the other Strigoi, a tall woman – probably Moroi when she was made. Yuri and the other guardian were there now._

"_Get Lissa away from here!" I barked as the Strigoi crouched, readying to pounce at me but he was weakened at my first blow on him so I punched his chest – where I should stake him – in mid-air and drove the silver stake to his heart. I pulled out the stake and went to help Alto – not that I liked him but I just wanted to prove myself. I ran forward to the Strigoi and rammed her with all my strength against the wall. I had the element of surprise there so I took that second as my chance to stake her. Her eyes widened and the she was down. Two dead Strigoi. All on me._

_Even though I knew they were supposed to die, I couldn't help but feel the guilt._

_---------------------End of Flashback---------------------_

I stretched in front of Dimitri, hoping it'll distract him. I did all my stretches with a gracefulness that came along as being a dhampir – or Rose Hathaway. I exaggerated that gracefulness, too, trying to look sultry in the cold air. Not hearing anything from him, I looked back at new guy Dimitri and saw him looking at me on his mid-reach to his toes. He looked away quickly and began stretching again.

"Do you remember what Alberta told us?" I asked, trying to fill in the awkward silence. I turned full on him, hand on my hips. I kept on a small smile, not trying to scare him by releasing the full power of my smile.

"Ten laps warm up; weights practice on dummies and with each other." He didn't look up to me as he said it. I was a little disappointed. Never mind, I get to fight with him anyway. And the way he said we could _practice with each other_ he made it sound so…lovely. Ugh, Rose, the guy's making you go all soft on your words, I scolded at myself. And his voice – it sounded so soft and deep with the faint trace of a Russian accent; it really made my heart jump.

I smiled at myself and started doing my laps and he followed me. I tried to slow down my jog so we paced/jogged beside each other. The jogging past was effortless but with him by my side where I could smell the scent of his aftershave – it was hard to keep a coherent mind.

"So," I started. He looked at me expectantly and I gave him a smile. "What brings you here in the middle of the wilderness?" I asked, leering at him. At first, I thought he was not going to answer me because had that same stoic expression all the Guardians have but he surprised me – and made my heart lurch – by cracking just a bit of a smile. I couldn't help but blush at my cute he looked when he did that. Trying to hide my blush, I looked away but I kept up the conversation, smiling.

"You're not mute, are you?" I joked.

"And you are not one of the dying breeds of blushing women, are you?" his voice (that accent made me want to fly) and his statement caught me off guard. I looked at him and noticed my face was hot. I must be blushing again. I tried really hard not to sprint away.

"All pretty dhampirs blush, comrade." I teased and gave him the full power of my Rose Hathaway trademark man-eating smile. He barked out a laugh and looked away, shaking his head. I was shocked, he just laughed. "I'm surprised that you even know how to laugh." The sluttish part of me wanted to throw myself at him and kiss him manically but I wanted to prove – maybe brag – how good I was at gym. So, instead of seducing him, I lightly punched his shoulder and told him, "Last one to finish get to do a hundred chin-ups!" and then I ran as fast as I possibly can.

_**Dimitri POV**_

"You have to train with Rose Hathaway for the next two days at the least. She can be annoying sometimes but you'll get along with her." She looked at someone or something from behind me. "Miss Hathaway," I stiffened. Was this the novice that had already killed a couple of Strigoi? As in _the _Rose Hathaway? The most famous novice in the whole dhampir world? I recalled back at out school that she was very popular there even though she didn't go to that St. Vlads but still. They only knew her name but not the face.

"I was just here to tell you that I cannot be in your training today because Headmistress Kirova sent me and the other Guardians to the Royal Court. I will be back in two days at the least, and by the way, you have a new training partner." I made that as my cue to turn around, expecting a tiny redhead to be there but I was both starstruck and moonstruck at what I saw.

Yeah, she was tiny – about a foot shorter than me – but she was beyond stunningly beautiful. Exotic. Her skin was flawlessly tan and her hair – oh, that hair – a color so deep brown it would be mistaken as black and it looked like straight silk past her shoulders. My fingers itched to touch those dark locks but I stayed on guard. At that second, I _knew_ that she was the most gorgeous dhampir/girl I had ever seen. Her face could make every man beg on his knees just for her love and it could make an angel weep. I wanted to weep myself, too, but I was guarded. Her eyes were sultry deep-set brown with her perfectly tanned skin. Her nose stood up straight and proud and those lips… I would do everything just to kiss those lips. Those wonderful lips of hers were spread into a blindingly beautiful smile. I was in love with her already.

I was half conscious to Alberta introducing us; I was just looking at the face of Rose Hathaway, just tantalized. I absently gave her a smile that girls used to melt on.

"And I hope you get along well." That cut me off from my trance.

She was Rose Hathaway – daughter of Janine Hathaway, one of the best guardians in the whole dhampir world. Not Miss Universe. Rose gave Alberta an innocent expression, it could fool anybody but I _knew_ she was faking that. I don't know how I knew that but I just had a feeling that she never had taken things innocently.

"Oh, we will." Her voice was set so low it sounded like a purr. I found that…sexy.

"Okay, you two will do ten laps for warm up, do the weights, practice your fights at the dummies and if possible with each other." Alberta said. I was looking at Alberta but from the corner of my eye, I could see Rose looking at me so intensely I wondered why I didn't melt. I nodded at Alberta and then she walked off with one last warning look at Rose.

I turned to see Rose looking up at me from her lashes. I'm sure all boys had melted at that face. This day was going to be _very _interesting.

---Minutes later---

She was so damn _hot_. With each having an uppercase letter. She was wearing only a red sports bra and black shorts and shoes that made her look underdressed but I absolutely didn't mind enjoying the view. And her body – I wondered how I kept my hands off that voluptuous, curvaceous, sexy body of hers. I swallowed maybe half a gallon of saliva that was issuing to overflow. With that body, I could feast my eyes on that.

Keep your mind straight, Dimitri, I hissed at myself.

I tore – reluctantly – away my eyes from her drool-worthy body of Rose Hathaway. I went outside to the field where we would do our laps. When inside, it was hot (maybe it was the effect of Rose's body), outside it was cold due to the nocturnal schedule of St. Vladimirs.

I started stretching, automatically bending my leg on the knee and grabbing my ankle behind me and pulling it gave me the pleasure of hearing my joints pop. It was absolutely nice to run in bare land, not snow. And I noticed that I was happy, euphoric even. It was my first time to be happy since my first Strigoi kill. Running was my passion but when Rose started stretching in front of me, the whole world to have been lost.

She moved so gracefully in front of my naked eyes. Arching her neck into poise so sexy, revealing her two un-promised _molnija _marks behind her high ponytail. She stretched out her arms, seeing her feminine muscles move with her in total sync and when she arched her back, her hands on her curved hips, she pivoted – facing me. It took me a second to tear off my eyes at her body and face – which was devastatingly beautiful – and continue stretching.

"Do you remember what Alberta told us?" she asked, cutting off the silence. I did not dare look at her as I answered – afraid that I'll lose my composure on my mind. Damn, this dhampir was going to be the death of me, I said silently.

"Ten laps warm up, weights, practice on the dummies –" and I thought about Alberta's last task – '…practice your fights at the dummies and if possible with each other.' I erased the 'if possible' part and said, "Then we practice with each other." I added as quickly, wondering if she has noticed my pause a while ago. I smiled mischievously at myself, wondering how my body would react if I touch Rose Hathaway. I had caution, too. She was the most famous novice in the whole dhampir world, how could my small talent equal to Rose Hathaway's potential to kick Strigoi asses?

I straightened from my position and saw Rose was jogging her laps now. I easily caught up to her and I noticed that she was slowing down, leveling her pace with mine. And her smell hit me; she smelled like rose, naturally. With a faint hint of sandalwood and vanilla. It was _very_ sexy. For dhampirs' noses they were not as strong as to Moroi but I could still smell her scent like it was stuck under my nose. That scent of hers didn't really help me keeping up a clear mind. My mind was clouded with her intoxicating scent and I wanted so badly to…

"So," she cut off my mental babble. I looked at her and regretted it. She was sweating sexily, her smile was so tantalizing. "What brings you here in the middle of the wilderness?" her eyes did things to me that no other girls could.

I was so moonstruck at her beauty I didn't notice that I hadn't answered her question. Instead of answering her, I cracked her a smile and I had the pleasure of seeing her blush.

"You're not mute, are you?" she asked as she quickly looked away.

I decided to tease her, it was really nice looking at her blushing; her beauty was just intensified. "And you are not one of the dying breeds of blushing women, are you?" she blushed again and she seemed to be caught off guard by my retort. She looked at me again, her face redden.

"All pretty dhampirs blush, comrade." And then her smile was like a punch on my face – a good one though. I laughed and I hoped it didn't sound too hysterical. "I'm surprised that you even know how to laugh." she teased and she gave me one last smile of a seductive temptress and punched me on the shoulder (I am not going to mention how her punch hurt). F***, that was the only thing she'd supposed to do today that will make my control snap into bits of pieces. I tensed and it took all of my will power not to grab her and pull her to me. I think she didn't know how her touch – punch, even – had made me feel.

"Last one to finish get a hundred chin-ups!" she called as she sprinted away. I knew that this game had no rules to be followed. So far, this had been the most interestingly sexy day since Viktoria "died." And then I sprinted to her.

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**skyluvstark09**


	3. Three: Hate That I Like you

_**Dimitri POV**_

I should tell you, this girl could run fast. She was almost halfway across from me when I was at her tail. Despite her petite form, she moved really fast and noting my height, I couldn't move as fast. When we finished our third lap and my adrenaline was still high, I picked up my pace and called to her.

"Rose! Are we sprinting the next _seventeen_ laps?!"

"Yes!" she yelled and then she ran faster.

And then we sprinted the next seventeen laps. When the final lap was almost over, we were starting to slow down but I was still behind her about a meter and a half, I could smell her wonderful scent. It made me go all weak and I slowed down more but her scent was very compelling. It wanted me to go to her. Or me her.

And then she won. Damn, I was worn out but no to the hell I would show her that. I walked toward her slowly – she was panting with her hands on her knees. I saw that she was sweating so abundantly – it smelled so good I wanted so badly to…

"As tall as you are, you run slow." She said breathlessly.

…touch her. My self control snapped and I grabbed her arms and held her up to the gym. Half carrying her weight supposedly but when my hands made contact with her, I was shocked when the palms of my hands started to tingle at our not-intimate connection. I didn't let go though, I liked the feel of it.

"You have to get up if you want to see me do chin-ups." I told her and I was surprised at how fond I sounded. I chuckled at that. She straightened up immediately and we went inside without a word to each other. When we were inside, the temperature turned warm again so I took off my shirt. Meanwhile, my adrenaline was still there (some of it), I took it as the chance to do my chin-ups. As I did so, I counted.

_**Rose POV**_

He just touched me! And now he just took off his shirt. He. Just. Took. Off. His. Shirt. In. Front. Of. Me. Oh my God, this day was better than I had ever expected it to be. He walked straight to the work-out bars to do his chin-ups but I could only marvel at how _h-h-hot_ and sexy he looked even at his back. Maybe the front was better – I made a mental note to do it but first I went to get a towel to wipe off the drying sweat that was getting sticky. I wiped off the sweat as I looked at Dimitri's back – totally enjoying the view.

I could see his muscles move at every pull of his body on the bars. It seemed so easy looking at him do the chin-ups. Man, the guy had such a potential in doing physical work. I thought that maybe he was just holding back when we were back there running. I frowned but when I caught sight of his sexy back again, I smiled and giggled when I felt my heart leap. While I was keeping up with my mental babble I was counting his pulls, too.

Thirty eight, thirty nine, forty…

I stood up, slowly walking to the work out bars. I could hear him gasping out the numbers. Poor Dimitri, he was such a martyr. I hadn't meant him to do this after running so much but I was impressed.

Seventy eight, seventy nine, eighty…

O wondered how he would react if I decrease his counts by …should I say twenty?

"Sixty three, sixty four, sixty five…" I noticed that he had stopped. I smiled evilly and took a step forward and pivoted to face him. His look and his body nearly gave me a heart attack then and there. It took almost all of my strength not to react. I kept on my evil smile and slowly surveyed his body – if you could call it _a body_. I would prefer to call it my doughnut-body because doughnuts are my favorite food and his body was making my mouth water.

His expression was questioning – I smiled wider, hoping it will momentarily distract him while I trekked down at the sight of his hot bod. I practically dragged my eyes away from his face to his tensed neck, broad shoulders, tanned chest with washboard abs and I didn't go survey more. My eyes were full but I still can't get enough of him…

"You have a great body," I blurted out. As soon as it left my lips, I regretted saying it because I blushed furiously and I was not going to let Dimitri have the delectation of watching me blush – I just noticed his enjoyment at this by making fun of me when we did our laps.

I looked down and pursed my lips and shifted my foot. I gathered strength there and looked up at him. He was wearing a crooked smile that weakened my already weak knees. God, I was turning into such a marshmallow girl.

"Really?" he asked, raising one brow. I noticed how hot he looked when he did that.

"I was starting to get the impression that you don't – no, scratch that; can't talk _at all_." I tried to change the subject. I saw his smile got wider.

"I can talk now." He noted, raising his hands to the side. "Answer my question." I wondered if he had s special talent of using compulsion – or maybe it was just his smile that was so compelling I would do anything that he desired…

"Did I say that you have a great body? I take that back. You have the most utterly sexy, hot and fascinating body that I had ever seen." I almost drooled at that second. And then I noticed what I was saying and I blushed so deeply I wondered what my face's color was.

He laughed almost quietly. Maybe he didn't know how completely mysterious and sexy he was to me. And oh God, I loved the sound of his laugh. And that accent…

"You know what?" I was having the impression this fascinating creature has something to do about my incoherency – of course he did. "I'll do chin-ups with you." I moved beside him and he stopped laughing and gave me a questioning look with his eyebrows again. I gave him a small encouraging smile. "Let's start at eight because I'm supposed to do twenty myself." I said my face as hot as ever. He snorted a laugh and I rolled my eyes despite my body temperature. I reached for the bars, readying to jump but warm big hands were on my hips and I almost fainted.

"Let me help you with that." He said his voice like a Russian god's. He raised me like a baby so that I could reach the handle bars. Oh my God, my body was not just turning into a marshmallow but a melted one. I clutched the handle bars and gasped out thanks. "You are so light." He told me like it was a good thing – his voice was so low and seductive. His hands were still on my hips.

"Hurry up, Dimitri, we have to finish this." my voice was a little shaky. I heard him chuckle lowly and we started to do our chin-ups without discturbance. When we were finished with our chin-ups, we did the weights with no problem at all. I asked him random stuffs like "How tall are you?", "How old are you?" and et cetera.

I wouldn't guarantee that he answered my questions without riddles. I had asked "How tall are you?" he answered "A foot taller than you." Could he be more _specific_?

"How old are you?"

"Same as you or older, maybe."

I was too fascinated at him to feel irritated. When I ran out of questions, I asked the first thing that ran through my mind. "Do you read books?" this seemed to be true because Dimitri laughed and nodded.

I pretended to think, tongue in cheek. "Uh…what do you prefer to read?" I asked, mainly curious.

"I prefer reading Western novels." He said as he lifted his barbell. I smiled; I found this part of him cool – not sexy or anything else but just cool.

"I never met a hot guy who reads." I almost said it out loud but I was clenching my teeth at the weight of my barbell.

We continued lifting weights and we drove stakes on the dummies and then the moment that I had been waiting for came.

We circled on each other. He looked deadly on that stance; his eye bore intensely into mine but not from our earlier attraction but it was from these weird animalistic instincts all dhampirs have. Soon, he lunged at me and I dodged him easily. We circled at each other again, I was the one who lunged now, faking right and attacking him at his left side and punching him on the jaw and escaping from his hands' grip. When he caught both my hands and restrained me – pulling my hands at my lower back (he did it a little roughly though), I didn't fight because I had a sequence from this memorized.

I ducked from him but boy, was he fast, caught me but I was halfway to my next sequence – which was slamming his legs out off the ground – and he almost stumbled with his legs intertwined with mine. I smiled evilly. I caught his hand and pulled him to the floor to me but he did put on a great fight by punching my cheek so hard I tasted blood on my mouth. I knew that I was going to have an ugly bruise tomorrow but that was the least of my worries now. My adrenaline was still super high that I crouched away from his reach and gave him my full-blown uppercut and he stumbled back – with the look of daze on his face.

"I won!" I shouted. He was looking at me again with that intensity that made my heart want to jump out of my chest. I smiled at him triumphantly. He cracked me a smile and patted his messy hair. "Come on. We have to go before the commons close." I held out a hand to him and he took it. I helped him up. "You weren't holding back, were you?" he gave me that pseudo innocent look and raised one brow perfectly – I wished I could do that. I sighed at him in mock exasperation. "In the fight." I told him. "I think you were holding back." He just rolled his eyes at me and started wiping off his sweat.

"You are better than I had expected you to be, Rose Hathaway, I was not holding back." He sounded genuinely honest; then again, he could imitate anything.

I smiled at him sweetly. "Gee, thanks." I pulled the strap of my gym bag on my shoulder. "Do you know where your dorm is?" I asked and he just nodded and I shrugged, indifferent. I wasn't going to look so disappointed at leaving him, too bad; I would have offered to walk him to his room. Ugh, just ugh.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning then." He just nodded again. O-kay, the mysterious guy act was really starting to freak me out. "Bye," I called out. "Oh and _goodnight_." I didn't say it so loud; I was not expecting him to hear it but as I was at the gym doors, I heard him say "Have a nice sleep, _Roza_."

---Morning:

"Fascinating." I said the next morning at the mirror, seeing my ugly purplish-blue bruise on my cheek where Dimitri had punched me. This was going to be embarrassing. I was surprised at myself that I didn't have the feel of wanting to break someone's neck instead of feeling embarrassed. I sighed and changed into a comfortable shorts and a red hoodie. I ran to Lissa's room, hoping that she could heal this embarrassingly ugly bruise on my _pretty_ face. I knocked twice at Lissa's door.

"Come in!" I heard her call out groggily. I opened the door and stepped inside. Lissa was half-sitting on her bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily and her blonde hair was a total mess.

"Morning, sunshine." I said to her and she smiled. "Sorry to bother you but could you heal this for me?" I pointed at my bruised cheek. She squinted at it and saw the bruise. She gasped and said, "That's one ugly bruise. Who did that?"

I shrugged and sat on her bed. "Hot new training partner-slash-novice Dimitri Belikov." Huh, I remembered his name. And in case if I had forgotten (which was not true), I had dreamt about him last night.

Lissa's eyes widened and she smiled at me teasingly. "I know that look, Rose. You like him, don't you?" I shrugged again, trying to look indifferent.

"What is not to like him?" I asked her intead. Lissa rolled her eyes and beckoned me to her. I crawled to her and she touched my cheek – closing her eyes at the process. And as the same as ever, I felt happiness from her that came along from healing people – I was glad that there was no darkness there. And _voilà__, I was instantly healed. Lissa opened her eyes and gave me a blinding smile. I pretended to be blinded by her smile and covered my eyes with both my hands._

_"Turn down the wattage, Liss. The smile's making my eyes hurt." She giggled but she didn't sound hurt – patted my arm._

_"You should go to the gym now – don't want hot new training partner-slash-novice waiting." I smiled at her and gave her a hug._

_"Thanks Liss." I whispered to her ear._

_"Anytime, Rose." She whispered back._

_I pointed at her. "Go back to bed, it's Saturday! I'm sure you wanna sleep in." and then I took off to the gym. As I opened the gym doors, I smelled it. The faint trace of the spicy aroma of aftershave. I followed the scent and found myself in front of the guys' closet. I eyed the door curiously and then suddenly I just opened. It almost hit my face if I hadn't backed away from the door. And to my utter bewilderment, a tall huge guy with blond hair and stepped out. His blue eyes swept sharply around the room, maybe looking for a culprit. And when his gaze met mine, his eyes softened. _

_"Stas," I gasped._

_"Rosie." He said happily before enveloping me with his huge hug._

_**So, you like it guys? Cute, huh? Blond guy likes brunette. I will soon be posting play lists for VA: Young Love on my profile.**_

_**Please leave a REVIEW!**_

_**Love y'all!**_

_**XOXO**_

_**skyluvstark09 **_


	4. Four: Hello Sunshine and Broken Noses

**I'm sorry for the disappointing news but there will be no more Dimitri POVs because at the previous chapters I just all wanted you to know what Dimitri's feelings were for Rose so it won't be so sad when ****something happens. **

**And yes, in this story, there are four branches of St. Vladimir's but I won't mention where they are (because I don't know).**

**I hope y'all understand.**

I was at loss of words when Stas gave me huge hug and spun me around like he was always doing since we were _young_. As usual, Stas was very warm and cuddly. I hugged him back and just giggled. It was really nice to be hugged this way when the one who is embracing you was the one protecting you and not the other way around.

I had met Stas when I was a sixth grader with Lissa and he was a sophomore. He was one of the best novices in all St. Vladimir's world-wide and during in weekends Stas used to train me because of my lack of cooperation in class. That's when he met me. And then I got better at class and he gave me training sessions every weekend until he was a senior - graduating as a top novice – and I was at my sophomore year kicking Alto's ass. It has been a year since we met but I always remember how he smelled like.

I idolized Stansilav Vladimirescu as a novice and guardian so I had been fond of him like a big brother. But I didn't know if he ever reciprocated my sibling-like love. I always got the impression that Stas was crazy in love with me since he met me but he didn't push me into anything. It was kind of – no, really awkward that I was seeing Stas as a brotherly image and he sees me in a romantic way.

He put me down but still held me to him, kissing my forehead. "You've grown so much, Rosie." I noticed that he had lost his Russian accent – he sounded ordinarily pure American.

I looked up at him and saw him looking at me lovingly. "Where's your accent, Stas?" I asked, I was kind of wary now.

He smiled and chuckled. "Back at Russia." He said and we cracked up.

"Stas, you never change." I noted, scratching out the change of his accent. He was still the same, golden tan skin, lapis lazuli blue eyes, and that cute sun-kissed color of golden blond hair. And his sense of humor was still dry, too.

"I'm always the same around you, Rose." That statement seemed to have a hidden meaning behind it. And then it hit me, why was Stas here?

"What are you doing here, Stas? I thought you were guarding a big bad mobster dude." I teased and backed away from his touch, putting on my trademark smile with my hands on my hips.

He threw back his head and laughed. "The school called; said they needed extra guardians. I should have declined because our boss was planning to visit here anyway." He said. "So here I am." He gestured to himself and gave me that smile that all his admirers loved. "Guardian Petrov told me that you and your training partner needed a Guardian to _look after_." That hit my curiosity.

"Why didn't Alberta tell us you were coming? And…why is your charge here, anyway?" I asked, utterly confused.

"I wanted to keep it a secret. To surprise you." He smiled at me warmly. "I was pretty sure she already told you that I was coming over to help."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Uh-huh." I turned around just to see Dimitri entering the gym. I gave him a wave and a smile. He acknowledged me by nodding _only_. I looked back at Stas and smiled mischievously. "Let the marathon begin!" I cried in clear emphasis.

----Minutes later----

_I knew it_, I hissed at myself. _He was just holding back yesterday._

Dimitri, Stas, and I were racing – ten laps – and guess who won? Dimitri was the first one to finish the ten laps without a pause followed by Stas and me.

"You've improved, Rosie!" Stas sounded normal, not breathless or any sign of telltale signs from running on his breathing. His eyes were like bright jewels when he looked at me. All of a sudden, he picked me up and spun me around again like he did back inside the gym. When he put me down, he turned to Dimitri and gave him kudos – I think.

"You are one hell of a runner, Dimka."

"What?" I asked a little bit too loudly. What was he talking about? What was a _Dimka_?

Both guys burst into laughter. Stas guffawed like someone was tickling the shit out of him and he looked like his novice self again and not the dangerous grown-up guardian. As I had noticed, he was _always_ un-guarded when I was with him. On the not-so contrary, Dimitri was chuckling guardedly.

"Hello, earth to Stas and Dimitri. What is a _Dimka_?" I asked, waving my hands in exasperation. Now, Dimitri's laugh grew more pronounced and Stas being Stansilav – was on his knees, laughing, tears on his eyes. I put my hands across my chest and started to tap my foot impatiently. Stas always knew the meaning of this but so did Dimitri. He stopped laughing and eyes me warily like I was going to attack anyone soon. Stas was about two inches shorter than Dimitri so he still stood imposingly in front of me.

"Aw, Rosie," he swung his arm around my shoulder and I shrugged it off. I was still looking at nowhere. I heard him sigh from beside me. "Dimka is a Russian nickname for Dimitri just like Stas is for Stansilav." He touched my arm. The touch was nothing like Dimitri had done to me. Dimitri's touch was effective and when he did, I could, like, almost see as clearly as before. Like the planet was more defined; has more meaning to me. But when Stas touched me, it was just a touch, nothing more.

Oh God, what the hell does that mean?

Shit, shit, shitty-shit, shit! I just felt myself blush from embarrassment, confusion and anger.

"Pretty Rosie," he used his old nickname for me. He was the only one who called me that and it was just bad enough that Dimka was here to overhear him saying it. He bent so that his face would level mine. He gave me a goofy smile but I was damn serious. I didn't dare blink nor move. I wanted to break some f***ing necks. Right. Now. I glared at him and walked – no, stomped would be a better word for it – away from him and to the gym. I jumped up to the bars and did my chin-ups noiselessly. Dimka and Stansilav followed – making small talk with each other but it was apparent that the air was thick with testosterone. My mind was just too clouded to figure it out. After twenty chin-ups, I was restless from my earlier chagrin. I had my barbell fully loaded and weighed it without any complaint. I had no problem staking the dummies but the dummies had the problem because every time I stake them, they just wouldn't stay still, they'd fall and the stake was always buried too deep on its stupid chest. My hands spasm-ed to break a neck but I held it down with all my strength. When it was time for Stansilav and Dimka to face the wrath of Rose Hathaway, I tried _really _hard to calm myself down. If I was going _assault_ them, I must do it with a clear mind, at the least. I was pretty sure that this training session was going to be fatal if it was down to them and me. It was a blessing when Dimka offered to fight Stansilav first; knowing that Stansilav has this freakishly weird philosophy of letting "ladies first." Miraculously, Stansilav didn't argue with Dimka. And I just found out that when I was mad, I call people their full name not nickname but _Dimka_? That's Dimitri's nickname, right? F***, he turns my world upside down.

I detected that Dimitri's (I'm gonna keep calling him that so I'll recover) expression. It only passed his face for a fraction of a second but it was undeniably there. He had just looked like he was going to kill somebody. His eyes had just widened with blood-lust and so much more. I crossed my legs as I watched them circle at each other.

_This is going to be interesting_, I said silently.

I looked at Stansilav who was tense – face hard and tendons standing out in his back. When a while ago, Dimitri looked like a crazy Russian god ready to murder somebody, he was on the contrary now. He looked frighteningly calm; this bravado always made him look sexy and hot. I snapped at my mind when it started to linger on past times when Dimitri and I were alone training.

And now, as I could see from my vantage, Dimitri's eyes had the same fire on them I had when I was jealous at something.

A few seconds passed, Stansilav lunged at Dimitri more than a little wild. Stansilav was fast but Dimitri was faster – he was on the defensive side. He was all but dodging easily Stansilav's offensive attacks. They did that for more than ten minutes, I think. Both of them were not backing out. They were snarling at each other now – looking a lot more like animals than dhampirs but then again, dhampirs have animalistic traits. Stansilav was caught off guard when Dimitri tripped him and he landed on his hands and knees. Dimitri gave him a nice hard kick on the stomach that left Stansilav out of breath. Stansilav seemed to gather up his wits at what was happening because he raised his legs – thrusting his lower extremities to the air and he was on his feet, half-crouching and side-kicked Dimitri but Dimitri didn't seem to notice that. Dimitri stood up to his full height of six feet five inches and a half and looked at Stansilav menacingly. He dodged Stansilav's and he seemed to gather up his strength at that moment because all of a sudden, I heard a familiar sickening crack.

My mouth gaped open and I stood up from where I was sitting. I tried to stop Stansilav's incoming fist to Dimitri's nose but it was too late. I heard the same crack but it just sounded amplified, noting that I was near the cracking nose. I made a face before crouching down next to Dimitri who was lying on the floor and holding his nose in awful calm. He looked up at me and he chuckled.

"Don't look so worried, Rose. It's just a broken nose." He said nonchalantly. Did I really look that worried? I thought I was keeping the emotions on my face on check but that didn't matter now, that was the least of my worries, Dimitri was hurt. I was helping him to his feet when I heard someone from behind me mumble something that sounded like "derr`mo." Dimitri turned his head sharply at the speaker. Despite the blood on his face – he looked gorgeous when he smiled that rare, amused grin of his. I looked at where Dimitri was smirking at. Shit, I forgot about Stansilav.

He was still on the floor, clutching his bleeding nose. I gasped and crouched at his side like I did with Dimitri. There was more blood on his nose. Looked like Dimitri got the best of him. I took his hand away from his nose but he jerked away.

"I'm alright." He said and then he tried to sit up and stand up without my help.

As if a dam had just broken inside of me, I erupted. "You assholes! Didn't anyone tell you not to hit anything topping the neck?" I exclaimed, glancing at both of them furiously. I was pretty sure that I wasn't as reasonable as others but still. "This is just a practice fight for Christ sake! Why do you both have to hit your f***ing noses?" I gave them the evil eye. I saw Dimitri do something that I would bet that he would never do in a million years – he shifted his foot and looked around guiltily as if avoiding my gaze. He should be though; my gaze had a piercing quality that no one else had.

I swiftly looked at Stansilav who was standing five feet away from me wearing a wary expression. _He should be_. "And you!" I snapped at him, pointing one slender finger to him. "Stansilav," Stansilav's eyes widened when he heard me mention his full name: he knew what the meaning was. "You should have known better than to fight back." I exhaled loudly; I really needed to get a hold on my temper.

I tried to gather myself by closing my eyes and taking in deep, calming breaths. Lissa's healing was taking its toll now. "Clinic, _now_." I told them and they hastily made their way to the clinic without a noise.

When we got there, Dr. Olendzki was there on her desk. When she heard us approaching, she looked up and gasped. She took us all in in five seconds and then she ushered the Stasnilav and Dimitri to the clinic.

"What happened?" Dr. Olendzki asked. She sounded both curious and concerned but mainly concerned for the novice and guardian's face.

"I punched them both on their noses; they were being asses." I said before anyone of them could say anything. I shot Stansilav a warning look when he was about to tell Dr. Olendzki about the truth. He sank back down on his chair as I did so.

Dr. Olendzki sighed in irritation. "Rose, please, just please, you need to have more control on your incinerating temper." Dr. Olendzki said sternly. "Have you been taking your medication?" she asked all of a sudden. I felt blood creep out of my face. _Why did she have to mention this in front of _them?

"Yes, Dr. Olendzki." I was taking fair amounts of tranquilizers for my giddy hot temper every night. Since she didn't know about the effects of being shadow-kissed. I breathed in deeply and looked at the boys. I almost cracked up then and there because they had that same white thick-ish fabric stuck on the bridge of their noses but I kept on my best poker face with extra effort. I would not want them to laugh at me if I were the one who had a broken nose. I saw Stansilav's expression and I wasn't too pleased about it. He looked curious in spite of his blank face – I could see it through at how he bit his bottom lip. As if he couldn't resist it any longer, he asked. "Dr. Olendzki, what kind of medication does Rose take?" I was about to snap at him a "hello, I'm right here" but Dr. Olendzki beat me there.

"She's taking tranquilizers to help calm down her nerves, Guardian Vladimirescu." She bustled around the room. "Are your noses still hurt?" that wiped off Stansilav's weird look that he was giving me. Suddenly, totally surprising me, he flushed bright red. Huh, Stansilav just blushed. And I noticed the embarrassed and contrite expression he was wearing. Jeez, I have been paying too much attention to him

"I'll take that as a yes." Dr. Olendzki said. "Don't be embarrassed Guardian Vladimirescu, Rose has broken Guardian Alto's nose more than I could ever count." Dr. Olendzki chuckled and gave each one of them a Tylenol. They didn't need water; they just popped it into their mouth and swallowed.

I focused my attention on Dimitri now. I looked at him and saw him looking back, too. Seconds later, I noticed that I was staring at him like a total moron. I think he sensed my discomfort because when I blinked, he cracked a heart-stopping and jaw-dropping angelic smile and winked at me. Despite his broken nose, he still looked awfully handsome. I later found myself blushing and looking away. And when I looked away, I met Stas' gaze (I think I wasn't mad at him anymore). He was looking at me in plain adoration. I looked back at Dimitri and he got that sexy smile again that always made me want to swoon. I looked back and forth at them, baffled. I didn't know what to do so I put on my Rose bravado. I gave them both a haughty smile and said, "Are you done thinking about me naked?" I stood in front of them. Stas just chuckled and continued _wandering inside his own mind_. And on the other hand, Dimitri snorted softly and shook his head slowly. I meant to find this as disapproval but I still couldn't resist thinking about the alternative. Was he saying that he was _not_ done thinking about me naked? Or did he just find my retort cheesy? I don't know.

I rolled my eyes, making sure both of them saw it. A soft ringing of a cell phone sounded through the testosterone fueled air. Stas mumbled and excuse, picked up the phone from his pocket and got out.

I sighed and flopped down next to Dimitri.

"Guess this leaves us all alone and miserable." I said. The sarcasm thick in my voice.

"I don't mind being alone with you." I was surprised at how close his voice was. I turned to see him leaning in to me, just a few inches from my face. Now, his aftershave had hit me and it smelled so _damn good_. And his eyes – I wanted to drown into those deep depths of chocolate and melt into that sweetness. His lips were slightly parted so I could feel his warm, sweet breath against my open lips.

"Rose," I heard a serious voice call. Dimitri backed and I stood up as Stas walked into the room, his guardian's mask was on – totally unreadable.

"Rose, someone is expecting you at the commons." Stas told me, his voice was just as blank. I guess he was back to duty.

Reluctant to leave my hot Russian god, I asked. "Who is it?" I crossed my arms across my chest.

Stas didn't hesitate. "Someone special."

"Huh," I said not so brilliantly. _Someone special?_ Who could that be?

"Seriously, Rose. You _need_ to come." Stas said as I looked back at my Russian god. He looked at me and quirked a brow. That never failed me to go all marshmallow-y.

"Guess I gotta go." I said bleakly.

He nodded and stood up. "I got to be going myself, too." He said and gave me one last heart-stopping smile. "I'll see you soon, Rose." He said and left without even a glance back at me. I frowned at his general direction and Stas and I started walking, too. He brought me to the trimmed commons where the guest houses/rooms were near. And there, I could see three people. Two were tall and bulky – undoubtedly Guardians. The guardians were standing at each side of the iron bench where one was sitting on the middle of the bench – arms stretched on the back of the chair and ankle crossed on his knee. Huh, he looked like a Moroi. An exceptional one, though. He was tall (of course, all Moroi are tall) and kind of muscular in a way, too. He had dark skin – which was unusual for a Moroi – and guess what he was wearing. The guy had too much taste in fashion, I thought as we walked in front of the Moroi.

He was wearing designer clothes, a bright crimson scarf, golden jewelries and a stud on his right ear. If he'd smile, I'll assume that his teeth were golden, too.

But no, he stood up and smiled, revealing his fangs and ultra-white teeth. He was wearing sunglasses so I couldn't see his eyes. I crossed my arms across my chest, wary. His two guardians tensed, as if waiting for a fight.

I raised a brow at the Moroi. He just smiled wider and it looked genuine on him. I think this Moroi was used to being sarcastic all the time. He took off the glasses and his eyes were deep-set brown, just like mine. Weird.

"Rose Hathaway," I said and held out a hand warily. I really hated formality but this dude has got to know who I am and _what_ I am.

"And I'm Abe Mazur, little girl." The Moroi said and shook my outstretched hand.

**I've been typing this for almost three hours so make sure to leave a REVIEW!!!**

**So, y'all like it?**

**XOXO**

**skyluvstark09**


	5. Five: Mobster Dude to The Rescue

**Unfortunately, Vampire Academy is not mine; it is Richelle Mead's and her publisher's.**

**Moi: Dimitri, what do you think about Stansilav? What do you think will happen?**

**Dimitri: Oh, I wouldn't worry about Stansilav; he'll die before he hits on Rose.**

**Moi: Why will he die?**

**Dimitri: Simple, *made a weird flick on his wrist* (hearing hysterical shouts) there, all done.**

**Moi: You're a male **_**Tsi Sgili**_**!**

**Dimitri: *laughing* I'm not; I just own the whole Strigoi coven. (Laughs)**

Chapter 5

I gripped his hand more tightly than I had intended to. Showing no emotion to him when something inside me practically leapt. I was skeptical at what this Moroi wanted from me. Mazur was neither a royal last name nor a Russian one, I think. Abe smiled wider and gestured to the iron bench.

"Why don't we take a seat?" he sat back down and patted the space next to him. Hm, this Moroi was beyond weird. And he must be Stas' charge. Erasing the thought of how his eyes looked like mine, I crossed my arms across my chest – sign of wariness. Abe Mazur seemed to know that because of the apprehension that lit his dark eyes. He nodded to Stas who was still beside me. And with that, Stas left.

"What do you want?" I asked cautiously. This was the mobster dude that I was talking about but I all but thought that they were all cold-hearted and snobs but Abe Mazur was a bit of a ninety degree different – he looked amused, fond even. I narrowed my eyes at him; he can't be hitting on me, can he?

"I want to talk to you, little girl." He said it with an unfamiliar accent. Huh, this mobster dude was doubly weirding me out.

"Then talk, _old man_." I said almost menacingly. I saw his guardians tense but Abe just guffawed a loud, amused laugh.

"Little girl," he peered up to me. Shit, he could do that weird deadly glare that I use. "If we were to talk, I would want you to _sit down_." He copied my tone. I mentally slapped myself for being scared at Abe Mazur – no one could or would even dare scare the Rose Hathaway. I gave him the same glare and reluctantly sat at the bench as far as possible from him.

"Now, what do you want?" I snapped.  
He ignored my snappy retort and asked, "How is your life, Rosemarie?" he used my full name – I never liked people calling me that but compared to _little girl_, it was less awful. I didn't know what got into me but I got the feeling in my gut that I should trust and tell the truth to Abe Mazur, mobster dude.

"To be honest," I started and looked at Abe. "Life had been one hell of a bitch to me." something on his dark eyes flickered for half a second: understanding? I don't f***ing know why I could read Abe Mazur's expressions so easily. I just thought that maybe we could be brothers and sisters at another time and just met by fate – which was not probably it. Maybe it was more planned than coincidence.

"Why do you say that, Rosemarie?" he asked curiously. Now, his torso was turned to me. F***, I didn't freaking know what to do now. I gave him a wary glance. "You can tell me, Rose. I promise not to tell anyone unless your planning something that could be perilous to yourself. I give you my vow." Abe Mazur said sincerely. Why did he want to know? The question kept repeating inside me but I didn't ask Abe. I looked at him from head to toe; maybe he was using compulsion on me or something. I saw that his hair was like mine and I was starting to consider that we were brothers and sisters from another time.

_Freedom_, that was what I wanted to say. I sighed and I was near to tears. _No! Don't cry, Rose! Don't show vulnerability in front of a Moroi!_ My mind yelled. "I don't know." I just shrugged helplessly. And Abe, totally catching me off-guard, touched my shoulder. I gave him a questioning look. His facial featured showed some signs of worry and apprehension.

"I know that you know what it is, Rose. You just don't want to admit it." Abe said and he was absolutely right. I, Rose Hathaway, the best soon-to-be guardian of Royal Moroi Vasilisa Dragomir wanted to have freedom. I laughed at the impossibility of the thought. Yeah, I loved Lissa like she was my sister but I kind of learned to love myself as time passed. And then I thought about Dimitri. Was I in love with him? No, I couldn't – shouldn't be in love with anyone. Moroi comes first.

I laughed sarcastically, in Rose bravado again. "You Moroi are so damn lucky." My voice was as sarcastic as my laugh.

"Why do you say that, little girl?" I didn't care if Abe called me a little girl again.

"Damn, old man," I exhaled loudly and tried to calm myself down by leaning at the bench. I looked at Abe's face for a reaction but there was none. "Can't you see? I'm a freaking dhampir!" I exploded and stood up from the seat and started shouting at him. His guardians moved but Abe stopped them by holding up a hand. "I have to train to become a guardian and protect you Moroi. I can't get anything I want and what I want to have is to free will! A choice to make in my screwed-up life – I don't want this!" As soon as it left my lips, the yearning for a normal life strengthened. Abe just nodded, as if he understood.

"I would help you earn or gain that freedom if that is in my power." Abe said. I was breathing hard that I needed to sit down.

"I want a carefree life. I want to be reckless without anyone knowing that it's the 'blood whore' Rose Hathaway." I said and raised my hands in defeat. The blood whore part hurt me; it was never true that I had let Jesse Zeklos drink from me. I wasn't crying. Yet. Abe nodded again. "I want to –" I thought for the right thing to say. "_Express _myself without people judging me. I don't even want them to know who I was." My only way of effective expression of myself is only fighting but thinking about fighting just made me feel worse.

"What do you do when you express yourself, Rose?" Abe asked softly. I had thought about that for a long time.

"Dance," dancing was the closest thing to fighting. It was the most adjacent vulnerable thing that could express oneself. You could even know a person's emotion by seeing them dance.

"Why do you want to dance, little girl?" Abe didn't sound curious – he understood, I knew.

"It's the closest thing I could think about to fighting." I said and closed my eyes as my temperament boiled. "I want to dance without anyone knowing it's me." I sighed.

"And that, little girl, is in my power." He suddenly said. I looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" I asked Abe Mazur, uber-weird mobster dude.

"We'll arrange a ball," Abe said. "A masquerade ball to be exact; no one will know it's you who is dancing." Abe said and I understood. Suddenly, I liked Abe. He understood me, and I think he's helping me.

"How will you do that?" I asked him. No way could he arrange a ball this time of month but with that look on his face, the decision was his.

"I'm Abe Mazur, little girl." He said as he stood up. "Don't worry, I'll take care of _everything_." He said and started walking off with his goons.

------Later------

"I'm so sorry," I apologized to the person I had just bumped into. I was at the cafeteria's door now. I looked up to see Jesse Zeklos there, a smirk on his face. I wanted to wipe off that smirk on his face with my fist but I controlled myself. I had just taken a small amount of my tranquilizer before I went up here to the cafeteria, knowing that everybody will cheap shot me with their blood whore talk about me.

"Hey there, blood whore." Jesse said and put his hand at the wall, blocking my way. My temper spiked up a couple of notches. I gave him my piercing glare and he blinked.

"Excuse me," I deep voice boomed. I turned to look at Abe with his goons. "Are you calling Rose a _blood whore_?" Abe looked and sounded mad. His face darkened and his eyes shrunk into a deadly glare, his jaw tight. I could feel the air getting hot. He was looking at Jesse. I looked at Jesse who had paled many shades lighter than his already pale face. I could see that he was shaking. Ha-ha, not such a smart mouth now, Jesse.

"No, sir." His voice broke. Abe still glared at him.

"Do not dare lie to me, Zeklos. I _know_ your parents and I'm sure you know me, too." Abe hissed, he had such a hot temper. Just like me. I could feel that the air was getting bakingly hot. Huh, Abe controls fire, I assumed.

"Yes, sir, I know you sir." Jesse said, nodding his head like a bobble-head.

"You better not talk to Rose like that again or I will hunt you down like a dog." Abe said menacingly. "I'll let you go. For now." He said and Jesse looked relieved as hell. Jesse was clamping his hand together like he was praying and bowing from his waist.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Mazur. I'm so sorry, I was just –"

"Go now!" Abe barked and Jesse Zeklos ran off like a girl.

I exhaled and looked at Abe who was fuming. "Thanks, Abe."

Abe smiled sarcastically. "No problem. And speaking of problem, why was that Zeklos rascal calling you a blood whore?" he was still mad, I see. I shrugged but at the look on Abe's face, he wanted an answer.

"They're just rumors, Abe." I rubbed my arms uncomfortably. I didn't like seeing Abe mad, it makes me feel scared. "Why are you here, anyway?" I asked.

He glared at me. "I just wanted to tell you that there will be a couturier coming here to take the measurements for your ball gown." He said seriously.

"You really convinced Kirova that?" I asked, bewildered.

"I didn't need to convince her, Rose. She was willing to grant anything I wanted."

"Well, thanks, Abe." I thanked him, smiling up at him. Not the man-eating smile but just a friendly smile. Abe seemed to calm down at that.

"Rose, I don't want you near Zeklos." Abe suddenly said.

"Yes, _father_." I said not-so sarcastically. Abe's head snapped up to me and he looked at me curiously.

"Why do you call me that?" he asked, his face masked with so much emotion I couldn't figure what they were.

I rolled my eyes. "I just called you father because you are acting so protectively." And then the thought hit me hard, who is this Abe Mazur anyway. He kind of look and act like me. No, he can't be my father; mom wouldn't do "it" with this man – sardonic mafia king Abe Mazur, or would she. Did she?

I looked at him suspiciously. "Who are you anyway?" I asked Abe. "What are you doing here?" I shot him questions.

"I am someone special, _kiz._" He said with an authentic glint on his eyes. He poked my cheek and said, "The couturier will be escorted to your room after you eat." He said. "I want you to wear a red dress; it looks good with your skin tone." He said.

"And now you're a dress expert?" I asked sarcastically.

He smirked. "No, I just know it will look gorgeous on you." He said and they walked off.

Inside, I found Lissa sitting with Christian. He and I never got along well together because of our "similar" attitude as Lissa used to say.

"Hi, Liss." Lissa looked excited. I nodded at Christian and he nodded back. Like any other typical Moroi, Christian had the power to control one out of all the five elements of magic. Christian could control fire. Lissa was a special one, though. She had the most unheard of power called spirit. And, Lissa, as a rare spirit user, could heal plants, animals and people but it also had its negative side-effects. Spirit can cause depression, paranoia, and even madness – all overpowering emotions that could drown her deep to create insanity but with me as Lissa's "shadow-kissed" guardian, I had the power to suck out that darkness just to put it inside me. That was one of the draw-backs when you die and come back again because someone just magically healed you.

"…gold, pink, blue, or green?" Lissa said her eyes bright with excitement. Huh, maybe Kirova already announced the masquerade ball. She hadn't noticed I spaced out.

"Green or gold would be good," I said, sensing through the bond that she was talking about the dresses she wanted to wear. Lissa smiled and giggled – giddy with excitement.

"What about you, Rose?" she asked curiously. Normally, I would tell Lissa about my dress but it wouldn't be a secret anymore. I had my reasons for keeping it from her: (1) I didn't want anyone to know who I was, and (2) I still didn't know what to wear. Abe had said that I will be wearing something red but…I just don't know.

I shrugged at Lissa, managing to look nonchalant. "I don't know yet." Luckily, Lissa didn't push and I mentally sighed in relief. Everybody inside the cafeteria was chatting excitedly with each other about the upcoming ball – planning what to wear and everything but my mind was on Abe.

_Why did he do this for me? Who is Abe Mazur? _Those questions haunted me for the rest of the hour and I went to my room to find a thirty or so blond lady with flashy clothes sitting on the chair outside my door. She looked up and saw me.

She smiled at me warmly. She stood up and offered her hand. "Hi, I'm Andrea the couturier." I shook her hand. "You must be Rose, Mr. Mazur's daughter."

_I knew it!_

**Again, I wrote this for more than two hours so please leave a review.**

**The fate of the story is in the hands of y'all reviewers.**

**XOXO**

**skyluvtstark09**


	6. Six: The Dream

**Hey, hey, hey!!! Kate here and I just wanted to thank you all about your awesome reviews. You all are my inspiration; keep up reviewing and hope I could finish the story. If you like Rose Hathaway, please read Georgina Kincaid series – pretty much love it by our one and only Richelle Mead.**

I smiled and nodded at the couturier as Abe – my father, unfortunately – would put it. I was going to act like I knew Abe was my father all along; I wasn't so surprised, remembering his reaction back at the cafeteria door I had suspected. I didn't want this "couturier" to doubt something about me and Abe's relationship. I put on my best daddy's girl smile and act.

"Yes, daddy just said that a _couturier _was coming here a while ago – to take my measurements." I shivered mentally at calling Abe as a daddy – I was _not_ used to this. It would have been better if Abe and I were only siblings from another time if he hadn't done this very congenial gift for me – if you would call it a _gift_. A masquerade ball was hardly a gift.

"My name is Andrea Jacobs, Ms Mazur," I spaced out when she called me mini Mazur. I was half-conscious listening to her say, "…your dad's personal tailor…" Geat, all of Abe's clothes were custom- made. I was getting the impression that Andrea was a loud-mouth – she talked too much for my liking. "I didn't know that Mr. Mazur had a daughter before but he told me today that his _daughter_ needed me and I all but eagerly agreed." She looked at me from head to toe.

"Rose, had anyone told you how gorgeous and sexy you look?" she asked, wrinkling her nose when she saw what I was wearing. "But you cover yourself up with too much layers of clothing." Andrea frowned. We were inside my room now and she was holding a tape measure, a notebook and a pen. "Strip down your clothes, Ms Mazur. Don't want your dress to be big for you." She said and I stripped down my clothes in front of her and that left me with my underwear and bra. She started measuring my waist, hips, bust and almost every inch of me. She was taking notes, too.

"What's my bust size?" I asked for the hell of it all.

"Um…" Andrea but her pen on her chin and looked at her notes. "36 D."

That cut me off to silence. Yeah, I knew that I had big boobs but not _that_ big. I touched them almost self-consciously when I heard Andrea giggle. For an old woman – well, not really old – she acted and sounded like a child. I looked at her sharply, putting as much Abe as possible on my face.

She pretended to cough. "I'm sorry, Ms Mazur," she bustled on the measuring tape and started to measure again – pursing her lips. "It's really good to have…large breasts." Ah, I got it. It was her way of making me feel better. If that's the case, I wasn't really impressed. "You should be proud of them – only so few of women get to have breasts like yours." I dropped my hands from my boobs and looked at Andrea.

"Gee, thanks for the compliment." I told her and gave her a smile. Her face scrunched up, reading the sarcasm on my voice even though it was compressed. She was a good one at detecting them. I wondered how many years she has been with the sardonic Abe Mazur; she could read my face easily.

She rummaged at something from her cute Fendi spy bag and held out a drawing book. Before I could take it out of her hands, she snatched it back and pointed at the pile of my clothes on the floor. "Better of you put on your clothes first." I wore my clothes and she held the worn-out drawing book to me again. "I'd been drawing these since Mr. Mazur took me and my sister Aleksandra as his personal tailor three years ago. I thought that maybe you wanted to pick a dress there." Andrea told me as I flipped the drawing book open and was amazed at how good they were. They were runway-worthy clothes, mostly halters and maxi dresses. Some of her works were vintage ball gowns which were incredible but only one dress caught my attention. It was a long, bubbly strapless ball gown. Even without a color on the drawing I could imagine that red for it would be great. Its top was like a strapless bustier with dark embroideries of vine-like patterns. Its lower part was consisted of many messy but elegant folds of fabric that flowed from behind. The dress had a vintage edge to it but it still managed to be sexy at the same time with its back with many triangles, showing the back's skin. The dress – drawing – was marvelous; no one would know it was me wearing because they would all expect me to wear something trashy. I imagined myself wearing that dress and mask and…_Dimitri_.

"You like that, don't you?" Andrea cut off my day dream.

"It's beautiful." I whispered more to myself than her.

"It is." She said, looking smug. "So far, that's the best I've designed. Do you like to wear that on the ball?" she asked me, her face lighting up.

"Yes."

"That's great!" she half-shouted in delight. She grasped her hands together as her cute blonde bob jerked back and forth. "Aleksandra and I already started buying the cloth for this one! We already started to take measure for it but let's just hop it will fit you – which will happen because you're like a model!" giddy Andrea said – she was like a little girl despite her age.

"Okay," she took a deep breath and closed her eyes and then exhaled loudly and opened her eyes. "Do you like the embroidery? Or do you wanna change it?" she asked.

I thought about that, cocking my head to the side. "Can you change them into roses?"

"Yes, I will!" Andrea looked overly happy about this. I mentally rolled my eyes at her.

"And – oh – can I pretty please do your make-up?" she asked when she was about to leave. I raised a brow at her.

"Do we still need to wear make-up? I thought we were wearing all masks."

She shook her head and smiled. "You still have to wear make-up but not too much. You don't want people to know you." She wiggled her fingers at me and finally made her exit. I should admit, for a thirty year old woman, Andrea acted like a kid. I lay down on my bed; wondering what might happen during the ball.

~*xXx*~

I was hearing this weird song that made my skin crawl. The songs were just like at the movies when people follow something mysterious or on some strange fairies. It scared the hell out of me but when the place suddenly came to light, I didn't know where I was. I was sure that I hadn't been in this place before but it still looked familiar.

I was in front of a very big portico just like in the palaces – which was it. I was at the middle of the stone steps. I looked around me but it was dark except for the Victorian torches that illuminated the stairs. The only light despite the torches was the one on top of the stone steps. I started to climb up the steps but was stop at the burden of what I was wearing. I looked a down to see a blood-red dress styled like in the Victorian era. It was strapless and tight – hugging my waist. I didn't know why this dress felt so familiar but I just _did_. The skirt was thick with its several folds of red fabric and it didn't make me move quite right. I took hold of the skirt and raised it so I could take a step to the dirty white steps of marble stone. When I was at the top of the stairs, I was speechless. The place looked so… beautiful in a classical way. The wide open arched door looked aged but it still held its former power in my eyes. The floor inside was shiny marble with etched with vintage drawings of flowers. In the entrance, I could see an elegant grand staircase styled in the Baroque era. As I stepped inside the palace, it pretty much flooded up with golden lights from antique chandeliers and there was a grand staircase in front of me – colored blood-red like my dress. The place was extraordinary. The music still continued playing but it wasn't scary now when the place around me was flooded with so much light. I shivered then and there; I felt a presence. And then I saw something move from the side of my peripheral vision.

At the center of the floor was a man in a tuxedo with tails. He was tall about six feet three with a lanky stature. He was wearing a mask that covered half his face – the mask was frowning with a tear on its eye. He had dark hair, I saw, as he stood broodingly at the middle of the marble floor, holding out a hand to me. I started to walk toward him when he started slowly backing up to another room, still holding out his hand.

"Wait," I called. He entered in an open door at the side and I followed him. I saw myself standing under ivory vaults and I could see the man's dark figure moving into an open wall. I followed him and climbed two flights of stairs just where he had been. I was standing in front of a balcony now and _he_ was there with his back to me.

"Hello?" I called and he turned around, facing me. I noticed that the song was Memories sung by Within Temptation. He had a brilliant color of sea glass green eyes and the look on his face was a bit heartbreaking – he looked lonely especially with that mask. He held out a hand to me; beckoning me to near him. I hesitated – I didn't know why, though but I just had that _feeling_. When I didn't move, he raised his hand to his mask and slowly took it off.

I gasped; I was shocked to see his face. There was a long red scar there from the side of his forehead then cutting through his eyebrow to his cheek. And then he faded away, so did everything else.

~*xXx*~

I sat bolt right up my bed. I was breathing very hard and my heart was pounding so hard it almost hurt. I didn't what was the reason but I knew it was about a dream – of course, I was sleeping. I tried to remember what it was but all the traces of the dream were gone. It only left me breathing hard and a little bit shaken. I didn't know why.

I looked at the clock beside my bed and cursed. It was already four thirty in the afternoon. Time for training with Dimitri and Stas. I quickly changed into my practice clothes and ran to the gym. Dimitri was there, starting up his laps. I joined him a while later when I'd done my stretches.

"You're late," he said not so accusingly.

"No 'hellos' or anything? Just 'you're late'?" I snapped at him. I had forgotten to take my meds a while ago from my hurry so my nerves frayed in just a minor annoyance. "And who died and made you God?"

"Have you taken your meds lately?" he asked instead. Ouch, that hurt.

"Yes, I did." I lied and clamped my mouth shut. We jogged a few laps silently. When we got inside, I caught his wrist and said, "I'm sorry." Dimitri looked at the hand on his wrist like it held all the power in the world.

"What are you sorry for?" Dimitri asked, looking amused and curious. _Oh, come on!_

"I lied." That was the only thing I said. "I didn't take my medication." Well, this was technically true.

He half-way smiled. "It's alright, Rose. I shouldn't have snapped at you earlier." And now he blamed himself?

I wanted to act defiant. "No, it's me. I shouldn't have –" he silenced me by brushing his lips against mine. And then things got into a blur.

**Guys!!! Like it? Make sure you read Georgina Kincaid series, ok? I promise, it's good! Well, its Richelle Mead's work so it **_**really **_**good.**

**Please leave a REVIEW!**

**XOXO**

**skyluvstark09**


	7. Seven: Damsel in Distress

**Moi: Oh, for Christ sake, what do you want from me?**

**Guy from dream: Isn't it obvious?**

**Moi: No, it's **_**not**_**.**

**Guy from dream: I want you, Kate. And I'm telling you that we will meet…soon enough.**

**Moi: Whatever, dude.**

**Damon Salvatore: What is going on here?**

**Moi: (flinging myself at Damon) Oh my God, Damon, this creepy guy is scaring the hell outta me!**

**DS: Are you scaring my girl? Huh?**

**GFD: No –**

**Dimitri: WTF? Kate, why are you with him?**

**Moi: (confused, throwing moi at Dimka) they're…um…**_**touching**_** me!**

**Dimka: Who dares touch my Kate?**

**Ian, Edward, Damon, Stefan, Adrian, (etc): US! WE WANT TO TOUCH HER! SHARE HER DIMITRI AND WE WILL SHARE YOU OURS!**

**What do you think? The worst dream or the greatest dream???**

Have you ever had that feeling of adrenaline rush mingled with your other feelings like irritation, anger and fear? Me? Yes, it's always a yes with Dimitri. Kissing Dimitri was too good for words; it was almost the best feeling I had ever had in my whole life. Sure, I had kissed boys before and I kissed them back but not like I did with Dimitri. This kiss was frantic and hungry like running away from a person before he just said "run while you still can." My life, I just realized, was like this. It had always been like this – running away from which I truly am – a dhampir, a novice guardian who, in the near future, will protect their assigned Moroi – and not this. I had this grave feeling in my gut that I was crossing a line – this was merely forbidden if I wanted my Moroi to live – who was my best friend Lissa.

I was thinking too much and kissing Dimitri _too much_. I shouldn't be in love except for my Moroi. Not a dhampir! Rose, do you want to be a dhampir's blood whore? No, I didn't listen to the reasonable side of my mind. Just kissed him hungrily. This will be our first kiss and also the last one, I promised to myself. There were tears springing to my eyes but I swallowed them back.

_They come first, they come first, they come first_, the reasonable part of me repeated inside my head all over again to no avail. I just kissed Dimitri back with all my strength and he kissed me back, too. Kissing me so deeply he was like swallowing the pain, fear, and anger inside of me. Eating the reasonable part out of me. His hands were tracing warm tingly paths at my back even with my clothes on. It made my knees go weak and I wobbled a little but he held me firmly against him.

Too soon we broke away. We looked at each other. The look on his eyes were priceless – I thought I'd never see Dimitri Belikov like this. Like –

Dimitri vanished from my sight. Now, I was on the run. In a mirror room – I think. Ah, shit, a ball room. What's up with ball rooms? Suddenly, I had this prickly feeling on my spin, telling me that something was wrong. I was running away from some _thing_ or _things_… And what the hell was I doing here anyway? I was with Dimitri just a while ago and – Lissa!

I was in Lissa's mind or something. I could see her from a wall with mirrors – she looked gorgeous as always except for a few stray hairs. She was wearing a gold ball gown and a tiny crown but everything in her expression was the opposite. She was alone at the massive room with a look of fear, pain and loss in her eyes – I could feel it from our bond, too. It was so heart-breaking. She looked around frantically. When she finally looked at her back, I – we, for sure – saw the most horrible thing in the world.

Dead bodies. Dead, bleeding bodies. Dead, bleeding, pain-stricken faced bodies. Dead, bleeding, pain-stricken faced bodies everywhere looking at Lissa. She glanced back at the mirror behind her, the bodies were not there. Finally, as if she could not take it anymore, she screamed.

As soon as I was back in my own body, I ran so fast everything went to a blur. I ran past the door matron to Lissa's room – I could hear her whimpering loudly. I opened her door – not bothering to knock – and flew to Lissa's bed.

"Lissa!" I shook her shoulder with my hands. "It's just a dream, Lissa. It's just a dream!"

"Oh God, dead bodies. Everywhere…" she whimpered. I took her into my arms where she wept. I stroked her messy pale hair and hugged her tight. "You're not there anymore, Lissa. It was just a bad dream." I whispered reassuring things to her over and over again.

Seconds later, I could hear footsteps; loud ones. My guardian mode kicked in and I held Lissa tighter to me. She heard it too because she tensed up and stopped crying.

It was Dimitri followed by none other than Stas. Stas was Lissa's friend too but they weren't as close; like me and her brother, we weren't _that _close. Both guys were on guardian mode, too. When they saw the look on my face – only God knows what it was – they turned a little scared.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Dimitri asked, looking concerned and something else. He didn't look scared now – he was really good at keeping up a straight face (a trustworthy one, though). He started to step inside.

"Rose –" Stas started to say but was cut off by an unnaturally guttural female voice.

"What is this all about? Guardian Vladimirescu?" Stas glanced at me for an answer; I shook my head at him. I hoped he knew what I meant.

"Nothing guardian Rossi, I just saw Rose run up here and then I just followed her." He said, clearly leaving Dimitri out of his excuse.

"And why aren't you with your charge? Is it you time-off?" guardian Rossi – a new guardian – pressed.

"My charge – Mr. Mazur _told _me to look after Rose Hathaway, guardian Rossi." Abe again? Ugh, overprotective father. I kept thinking that but I was a little flattered that he cared about me.

"Right…" guardian Rossi was unsure of what to say. Maybe because she knew who was Abe Mazur? I liked how bad-ass Abe's reputation was… just like me. "And Mr…?"

"Belikov," Dimitri offered.

"Mr. Belikov, I assumed that you saw Ms Hathaway run up to here, too?" raspy voiced Rossi assumed.

"Yes, guardian Rossi. Rose and I were having our practice when I saw her practically fly up to here." Dimitri reasoned.

"Well then," a tall dark-haired and skinned woman appeared at the doorway. "And you, Ms Hathaway, may I ask what you are doing here?" she reminded me of Stan so much (and don't confuse Stan with Stas because they are at polar opposites); I wanted to punch her.

I was about to answer the guardian when Lissa piped in. "It's nothing, guardian Rossi. It's _really _nothing." Oh, Lissa, I thought. Be careful. **(A.N.: Sorry, I couldn't help but quote Vampire Academy, it was cute)** Using compulsion on dhampirs weren't as dangerous as it was with other Moroi but she still needed to have the caution. Lissa was looking at the guardian so intensely. Guardian Rossi – blank faced – nodded and got out of the room. Stas, looking completely lost, stepped into the room.

"What just happened?" he asked, raising his hands up innocently – still the quite naïve Stas I knew. To protect Lissa, I shrugged. Dimitri, who was at the door, narrowed his eyes at me. To protect Lissa again, I gave him my man-eating smile and he looked at me blankly again.

"Rose," Stas was using my name now – he was serious. "What are you doing here in Liss – I mean, the Princess' room?" he asked and walked so that he was beside the bed with me and Lissa. "Princess," he turned his soft-eyed gaze at Lissa. "Wait, are you crying?" _Brilliant, Stas. Just brilliant_, I thought.

"Obviously, she is." I interjected before Lissa could say or do something. "She just _misses_ her family." I told Stas. "And if you don't mind, can I be with Lissa alone?" Lissa looked up at Stas – who nodded and stalked out of the room. Shoooot, Lissa had used compulsion on Stas, too. When Stas left, it left Dimitri the only guy in the room. I made a shoo-ing motion on my hand. "You can go now, too, Dimitri." I told him. "Nothing's worth seeing unless you want to see us making out." I mentally slapped myself for that but I was grateful that Dimitri looked abashed and he straightened up. "Go back to the gym. Continue what you were doing and don't wait up for me." he gave one last intense stare – if not chagrinned – and shut the door behind him. I waited for the sounds of footsteps but there were none; gee, Dimitri moved like a ghost. I got up and went to the door to lock it up. I turned to Lissa with a glare, hands on hips.

"Is this what you have been keeping from me?" I asked my best friend. She looked dead-tired as she clutched her pink pillow to her chest and buried her face on the pillow and nodded.

"Oh God, Lissa," I said and walked up to her bed. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked and sat down next to her – stroking her blonde head. "What you saw was horrible." I couldn't believe that she was keeping all these things from me. She looked up to me with blood-shot eyes – maybe it was from her sleepless nights. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed that.

"How much did you see?" she asked in a small voice.

"Just when you were in a room full of mirrors – maybe a ball room – and saw those dead people." I nearly choked. It was horrible recalling those images but it must have been worse for Lissa because she was the one seeing it first-hand and I was just a spectator.

Lissa started sobbing loudly. I hugged her and let her sob on my neck. "Sshh…Liss, it's okay…" at the thought of my neck…ah, blood. Shit. "Lissa, how long have you been at your last feeding?" I asked her, pulling away slightly.

"About a day ago. Why?" she asked and rubbed her eyes.

"Maybe these dreams are the result if you don't feed pretty often." I told her my conclusion – well, it was the best reason I could think of.

"I think you're right, Rose." Lissa was still lying. She knew the reason but she wouldn't tell me what it was.

_She's depressed, Rose, save her,_ I told myself. Instinctively, I took a deep breath and started to suck away the darkness inside of her. Promptly, I felt even sadder than before. I wanted to bawl my eyes out like a baby. I _needed_ a hug or something.

"Why aren't you telling me this." the accusation was barely hidden.

"It's horrible, Rose." Was all Lissa said.

"Why is it horrible?" I prompted. Irritated? Yes.

"I don't want to drag you into this, Rose. It's just a dream." She said. "It's just a dream, it's just a dream." She repeated more likely to herself than me.

"Liss, you're my best friend and you're having f***ing nightmares and you just let me do nothing?" I screamed. Her darkness was taking its toll.

"There's nothing you can do, Rose. Unless you won't let me sleep, that is." Complained Lissa. How dare she, she still had the guts to sound annoyed. She was not hugging me anymore – which made me feel so empty.

_It's just a dream, Rose_, I said, trying to convince myself. Lissa was lucky that I was upset; If I weren't I would have been very notorious on pushing the subject.

"Alright." I sighed. If I catch you having a bad dream again, you have to tell me." I told her – not bothering to see her answer – and stalked out without a glance back.

When I was out of the dorms, I started walking to the woods.

**Sorry guys, my mom's yelling at me to go to bed. And exams are a day after tomorrow! I need to study so I can still use the laptop! Please understand if I can't update soon.**

**Love y'all! And clue for the next chapter: it will be Dimitri's come-back.**

**Please stay in tuned with me.**

**XOXO**

**skyluvtsark09**


	8. Eight: In The Woods and Confessed

**Okay, guys, I am so sorry for not updating soon enough for all your liking but I had to study for my exams and clean my room! Lol… So… hopefully, I could update maybe two chapters this day if I have the time. So, this is chapter 8 and ENJOY!**

Coming to the woods always made me feel better albeit the cold. It was late October and it was fall so the weather was being a bitch to me especially at night. The sun had just set a while ago and it was dark; no one could see me. As soon as I was surrounded by the trees, I took off running not bothering to acknowledge the cold hitting my skin where it was exposed. Running made me feel better too. I wanted some time for myself for all people's sake. First because if you'd approach me, Rose Hathaway, upset you'll just make it worse and you couldn't be sure if you'd be back unharmed and second because…. I don't really know, isn't it compulsory to avoid a mad woman when she's just a little more than _sad? _

I always made a walk – and I don't care if it annoys the guardians – to the woods near the cabins where there was a pond and an iron bench. I could say that my place is my very own sanctuary. When I arrived at the pond, I sat at the bench and wrapped my arms around my knees just to keep me warm from the bitchy weather.

I was trying to keep myself from crying but I couldn't hold it any longer – I burst into endless tears. I was curled into a ball and I rocked at the chair for a bit of ten minutes of weeping there in the notorious pre-night. I registered my thoughts with more than a little confusion. _Why is this happening to me? Don't I deserve something from all my hard work? _And the last hurt me so much. _Why am I falling for a guy I barely know?_ So many questions without answers. _Desperately, _wanting the answers but, hey, life's all black and white.

I stayed there, crying and cold from the air for at most ten minutes when warmth enveloped me. My head snapped up and I wiped my tears away with my sleeves quickly. For dhampir sight, I could see the faint outline of chin length hair and a slightly crooked nose.

"You must be cold." He said. I noticed that he had put his long coat on me – a duster. Ugh, for a Russian, he has too much cowboy in taste with his books and clothing…. I tried to lighten my dark mood by joking.

"You think?" temper, Rose. Despite my feeling of remorse, I still managed to sound snappy. I sniffled and looked away from him. "Sorry," I choked out when he just kept quiet. Instead of answering me, he reached out and took me into his arms – _absolutely_ shocking me into silence. He tucked his chin on my head and breathed in deeply. I shivered from his touch but he seemed to misunderstand that because he hugged me to him tighter – letting me feel the warmth of his body – and softly rubbing his warming my goose-bumped arms by its friction. His scent filled my senses – it smelled so good. I always loved Dimitri's scent; it always made me want to –

"What are you doing out here, Rose?" he asked and as he said it I could almost taste his breath on my face. I was lucky enough that there wasn't enough light for him to see my blush at his closeness.

"I always come here when I want to be alone." I told him, not meaning to say that he was unwelcome here but he _is_ very welcome.

"Oh." Was all he said.

"I was about to ask you the same question," I said and looked up to him, my face warmed again when I saw him looking at me.

"I'm here because I was following you. Gym's tiring without you."

"What do you mean?" I asked a little stupidly.

"The gym is very tedious without you, Rose, so I just followed you here when you got out of the dorms." He explained.

"Oh." I said blankly but my mind was anything but blank. I didn't know if I should be flattered or weirded out. If this wasn't Dimitri Belikov, I should have been _pissed_ but this is the Russian god we're talking about following me so I was a more than a little flattered. He must have feelings for me, too. The memory of our kiss flashed through my mind and I shivered at the memory of how intense it was. "Why did you kiss me?" I blurted out and regretted it as soon as it left my lips because I blushed furiously. I heard him sigh from above me.

"It seemed like the best thing to do t the moment." He said, nodding his head. "But then again, it's always the best thing to do." He said hurriedly and I heard him hiss something in another language – Russian, I presume – and pursed his lips into a heard line.

The sadness inside me had dissolved a little when he was there but when he said this, it had gone away. I hid a smile and managed to answer him without gushing. "People – I mean, boys say that all the time, you know?" _Shit! Why did I even say that?!_

"I _know_." He said and he sounded a little disappointed but he just hugged me tighter to him and said something in the presumed language Russian. It sounded like a prayer with a combination of "Roza" there. He sighed and he totally surprised me by kissing my forehead.

"Did you hear them? The rumors, I mean." I asked him tentatively. I looked away at him as I said it. I am so afraid of rejection. Just now and from him. Rose Hathaway is not afraid of anything – except _this_.

"About what, exactly?" his voice rumbled at my ear, the resonance making me want to melt then and there. He stretched his legs in front of him and shifted at his seat.

"Um," I lowered my feet to the ground and stretched it too, hearing my joints pop with it. I held on to his duster tighter. "The rumors…about me…being a –" I took a deep breath and said, "blood whore." silently. _Rose Hathaway doesn't cry_, the subconscious part of me said. The tears stung my eyes so bad I wanted to gouge my eyes out from its f***ing frustration.

He snorted out loud. I took that as a yes. "Uh-huh," he said, nodding. "As if I'd believe on f***ing rumors." He sounded sarcastic. Ouch, that hurt me. His tone, not his statement.

"Why don't you?" I asked him, trying on my best pseudo Rose Hathaway facing and voicing on him.

"Rumors are just rumors, Rose." He said and he stretched at his seat again, he looked more relaxed than his usual tensed self. "Unless you'd tell me you _are_ a blood whore now." Damn, I hated how much that hurt me. Tears sprung to my eyes immediately – I was getting all soft now and I hated it.

"What if I'll tell you I am?" I challenged and cleared my throat. My voice sounded hoarse and raw as if it wasn't just five minutes ago I was bawling my eyes out. I could hear him breathe in and out deeply, lost in thought. He shrugged a while later but didn't voice his answer out.

"Say it," I commanded him with fierceness that came in naturally from my voice. I was going all hot and cold at the same time; I was mad now. This was what I had been saying about _not_ following me here; I could hurt anybody with me so unguarded. Especially after spirit overload.

He slowly shook his head. If I hadn't known better, I guessed he was frowning. "It doesn't make my feelings change for you, Rose." He said quietly. He sighed loudly and snaked his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him. I was a bit hesitant but he still won. I laid my head on his chest and breathed him in. He stroked my hair softly and said things I didn't understand but albeit I didn't understand what he was saying, it made me calm and comfortable. This was what I always needed: comfort. I didn't know why but Dimitri always seemed to understand me and vice versa. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes but eventually, he sighed and murmured something like "milaya moya Roza" or whatnot and shifted on his seat.

"What are you saying, Dimitri?" I asked absently, playing on a strand of his brown hair. My face started to heat up at his deep chuckle.

"Nothing, Rose, it was _nothing_." He told me. Suddenly, Dimitri started to stiffen. "Rose…about what happened at the gym…" he trailed off. "I'm sorry for whatever I did that upset you." He said, not hesitating. _Care to elaborate?_ I asked silently.

"You did nothing, comrade." I joked. He looked at me and raised a brow.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" he asked me, looking a little annoyed.

I now felt a warm familiar tingle at the back of my head. _Uh-oh, Rose Hathaway's back._ "Oh, I just made a report on something about the R.S.S.R. and –"

"U.S.S.R.," Dimitri corrected. **(A.N.: Sorry, I'm quoting on VA again)** I gave him a blank look. "I may be a student but at least I know what the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic's abbreviation."

_Brainiac_, I hissed inside my head. "Yeah, whatever." I made a dismissed motion with my hands. "And do you even know what a comrade is?" I asked, trying to raise a brow like him.

"Yes, Rose, it means 'companion'." It was dark but I could imagine him rolling his eyes.

"Yes, and what are we?" I asked rhetorically. "Training buddies."

"Rose, you're changing the subject." _Blast it, he noticed._

"Yeah, I am." I admitted, looking around the place except for him. He stretched again and yawned.

You know Rose; I have a reputation at pushing other people about discussing _uncomfy_ stuffs."

_Who are you, my mother?_ That would be my usual Rose Hathaway answer but I was with Dimitri…everything _could_ change with him. He took hold of my chin and titled it up to face him. He looked guarded as always but I could see the underlying hurt in those beautiful dark eyes of his that I had learned to _love_ in such a short time. Yeah, I guess I could admit it now – even just to myself. I had thought that it was only physical attraction that I felt for him but no, it was not. It was hard to admit that even in such a short time (very short time) I had found him lovable; seeing him fight, his dedication into fighting, his likes (even though what I only know is limited), and even his attitude. This cocky, sardonic, guarded Dimitri Belikov. _Dear Vladimir, what will I ever do?_

I pulled away from him slightly and tightened his duster around me.

"Why did you run away after I kissed you?" he asked all in one breath and I could hear hurt and confusion radiate from his tone. I looked at Dimitri – hoping my gaze was gentle and apologetic. I was doing this to protect Lissa again.

"If you don't want to say it, I won't push you." He said as gently as he could. I started to open my mouth to explain to him but he just put a finger to my lips to stop me. "I just…" he trailed off dramatically and a look of pain crossed his face – I could see clearly that he was fighting for control. **(A.N.: Sorry for the author's note but I just **_**need**_** y'all guys to listen to a song titled Sometimes by Gabrielle. It reflects this chappie!)** "…don't want to see you hurt." He finally said but his face showed no emotion. "What I saw back at the gym –" he paused and closed his eyes and rubbed them with his index finger and thumb. "– was terrible." The words caught in his throat. He cleared his throat and shifted on his seat.

_Oh, Dimitri._ I wanted to take him in my arms and tell him it was alright but nothing was right now. I was blissful that he cared about me, yes. But I cared for Lissa, too. _She's your best friends, Rose._ _Just let him go, Lissa needs you more._ I wanted to let lose of myself but I just still kept in control – I was good at keeping a straight face. Being a guardian is all I could do. At boys – I'm a heartbreaker. I was and still _am_ never good at boys. I always end up hurting them or vice versa like Jesse Zeklos. _Fuck that guy, Rose; he's a jack-ass!_ My mind yelled at me as I thought about the Zeklos rascal – as Abe would put it. Emotionally and physically hurt, once I had a boyfriend who was really hurt physically but…when I just started to think about what happened that _night_ my head just aches. I couldn't remember what had happened that night; only heard glass breaking and _his _scream.

I never knew I could love someone like this – like Dimitri. I mentally groaned at myself. He was struggling to keep a straight face when I didn't answer him.

"Yeah," I said slowly. "I just have to keep this for myself." _And for Lissa_, I added silently. The longing for normal life strengthened again. It was just so unfair…_No! Rose, don't feel jealous! Especially toward your best friend!_ Who are you? I wondered. This voice always bothered me. _I'm your conscience…_ and the voice started to fade. Huh, am I crazy? I asked my "conscience" but there was no answer. I _am_ crazy. That's why I'm falling for a guy I barely know. Ha-ha, funny, Rose.

I dismissed that part of my mind and concentrated on Dimitri.

"I understand." He just said and stood up. I was a little hurt about his abruptness but I kept up my mask. I looked at him from head to toe – he looked perfect. Perfect enough not to deserve me. He deserves a better woman/girl than me. He's just _too_ good for me. Just thinking about Dimitri with another girl made me want to break a neck. I breathed in and out deeply and stood up. His duster was too long, it went to the ground.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your dorm." He said, smiling. I was glad that he was being cocky now, not the hurt Dimitri that will most likely haunt my dreams.

I smiled at him and he gladly returned one dazzling smile back. I sighed. No hard feeling, eh? The sun had just set when I was coming here so it was pitch black here for humans but for dhampirs, it was a bit lighter like one golden light had lit up the place. Wait, night? And then it hit me – it was night so why was Lissa sleeping? She should be sleeping at sunlight. I mentally groaned and almost took off when Dimitri hadn't caught my balled fist. He shook my hand playfully and loosened my fist with his strength.

"You're so tense today," he teased and I managed to let out a giggle which was _so _not Rose Hathaway. I just swung our joined hands behind us to distract him and we walked towards my dorm. We were halfway out the trees when we heard a branch crack.

"Rose?" someone called.

**Whoo! Who might that be? What is Lissa keeping from Rose? LOL! If you want to know, please stay in tuned, I promise to update **_**very **_**soon! Please leave a REVIEW and don't forget to listen to SOMETIMES by GABRIELLE, k???**

**Thanks so much!**

**XOXO**

**Skyluvstark09**


	9. Nine: Memories?

**Hey y'all! I'm so sorry I haven't been able to update so soon! It was because of my "hectic" schedule. I was moving from my grandma's house to my mom's so I couldn't make a chapter clearly with all the shenanigans my sister plays on me!**

**I hope you ENJOY this chapter!**

**And clue: Dashkovs are EVIL!**

**Chapter 9**

"Rose?" someone called.

I whirled around to the caller's general direction only to find trees. I peered through the cluster of leaves and woods but no one was to be seen. _And _I swear the voice sounded eerily familiar there was a prickly feeling on my spine. Something about my reaction to the voice and to Lissa's dream was similar. That just made both my dread and curiosity increase. I could feel that some _thing_ – or _someone_ – was coming but I still could not pin point it out.

I racked at my brain for possible reasons and explanations about this but I was blanked out.

"Rose? Are you alright?" Dimitri asked, concern drenched his tone. He tugged at my hand and I looked up at him. His forehead creased with worry. "Rose, you look kind of pale. Come on, I'll take you to the infirmary." He half-supported my weight but before we could take three steps, I escaped from his grasp and looked at him squarely in the eye.

"Did you just hear somebody call my name?" I asked him seriously. He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes into slits.

"None except for me."he said and put a hand on my shoulder. He looked troubled now. "Rose, we should go. I think you're just tired –"

"I'm not!" I snapped and shrugged his hand off. For the first time, I saw Dimitri flinch and he looked scared now. I should have laughed at his reaction but the darkness was surrounding me – pulling me deeper into a world of unpredictability.

Dimitri's eyes turned soft with concern. "Rose, tell me what you heard." His voice was low and commanding. He held both his hands to me which I cringed at and shook my head like crazy. I didn't know why I was backing away from him but I just _felt _it. We just looked into each other's eyes.

"Roza," there was warning on his voice. "What did you hear?" I doubled back. I didn't know what happened but I just started to rack my brain again for an answer for Dimitri. It was like my mind was in replay. I could hear the voice that called me ring clearly in my head. And _that_ voice. It was not only my mind replaying but so was my past. My _almost_ forgotten past. My past replayed just in front of my eyes. It was a party – a pre-graduation party that had happened just a year and a half ago. We – Lissa and I – were laughing and chatting with some of her friends. I found myself looking around – for any danger. I know it sounds kind of neurotic but, hey, I'm Rose Hathaway by the way. A minute of looking around the place, _we_ heard a scream. A _very_ familiar one. Then there was glass breaking…chaos broke.

Two seconds later, I found myself at the woods with Dimitri again. He was close to me – holding my shoulders tightly and shaking me. "Roza!" his voice echoed around me and everything appeared to have slowed down.

The memory crashed through me painfully and I clutched my head because of its throbbing pain. It was like there were invisible sledge hammers pounding on my skull – it hurt so much I couldn't help but let out a scream of pure agony. My knees buckled and I landed on the ground. Dark spots were clouding on my vision. No, not _again_. I could feel myself falling into a dark pit promising only oblivion but I tried my hardest to stay conscious.

"No, no, no, no…" I found myself saying repeatedly – shaking my head crazily between my hands.

"Roza!" Dimitri shouted. My head was in too much pain to stay awake, let alone listen to him.

"Rose?!" _Stas?_ "Belikov, what's wrong –?" that was all I heard before my vision went totally black.

* * * * *

I felt like I was floating. My body was very light and tingly. I felt…awesome. I felt _high_. Not I knew what it felt to be stoned on drugs but I just felt, you know, high. Happy, satisfied, _carefree_. I thought that I would do anything to stay like this forever but who'd grant my wish? Later, I felt the lightness of my body weight drop heavily on an uncomfortable mattress I was lying at and the blissfulness was gone. I just felt nothing. Numb, actually. Once I was out of my personal paradise, I picked up faint voices. It sounded like they were arguing.

"– sure that she will be alright. I have injected morphine into her system for the pain and the IV's feeding her fairly, Mr. Mazur." _Abe again? And what the hell's an IV?_ I could hear something near me beeping annoyingly. _Ugh, I was in the infirmary._

I heard somebody sigh not so far away from me. "Is she always like this?" asked Abe.

"Not at all." Dr. Olendzki said. "This is her first time being rendered here in the infirmary unconscious and not breathing. This must be something serious." She sounded concerned and soothing.

I tried to open my mouth to say something but nothing happened – my body was not obeying me. I was stoned, literally. Ha-ha, funny, Rose. I put more effort to open my eyes but, still, nothing happened. I tried to wiggle my fingers only to receive a minor spasm.

"Her hand just moved." Abe said and I could hear footsteps – more than tow, actually.

"Rose?" _Mom? _What the –

A door burst open. "Oh my, God! What's wrong with Rose?" Lissa shrieked. I could feel her panic and worry through the bond.

"Guardian Vladimirescu and novice Belikov sent her here unconscious and she has stopped breathing so we had to put her in Intensive Care Unit for a respirator." _What?! Intensive Care Unit?! What the hell happened to me?! I demand – _wait respirator? Huh, that explains the funny feeling on my nose. I could feel Lissa's guilt; panic and worry grow more pronounced. Wait, guilt? Why does she have to feel guilty? Oh yeah, she blames herself to everything that happens to me. Maybe that was it; nothing more.

"How long has she been in here?" asked Lissa.

"Five hours at the least." I could hear paper shuffling.

"That long? If I hadn't heard the rumor about Stansilav and Dimitri fighting over Rose and coming to the infirmary I wouldn't have known." Lissa grumbled and I could feel my hand warm. Lissa was holding it.

_Rose? _Lissa said through our bond. She squeezed my hands tightly to hers. _Don't worry; everything's going to be _fine_._ Those were the last words I heard before lethargy took over me.

* * * * *

I awakened at the same uncomfortable cot again. But now, nobody was talking. The silence was starting to get on my nerves so I tested if I could open my eyes but still to no avail. I was half aware that I could twitch my fingers now. _Just _twitch.

"Fingers spasm-ed again." I heard my mom murmur. It shocked me to hear her talk about such and inconsequential thing.

"Maybe that's all she could do for now." replied Abe. I heard mom grunt and everything quieted again. I wondered where Lissa was and what time it was. I let my mind wander on several things when I heard someone stand up.

"It's six," mom grumbled and, thankfully, answered my silent question. "The meeting should start in about fifteen minutes and I have to go find Alberta and tell her about your _rendezvous_."

"Sure,meleği. I would decline if it wasn't so important to me. _And_ your daughter." I could hear Abe's smile as he said it.

"I'll be back," _Wow, my mom – the Janine Hathaway – sounded flustered!_ I heard the door open and close and a sigh. Soon, I fell asleep again.

* * * * *

This awakening was unlike the first two but it was an ordinary one – just like waking up after an undisturbed sleep. My body ached from the stiffness on this stupid cot and my mouth felt dry. Slowly, I stretched and opened my eyes only to see an awful color of off-white ceiling. Then the memory came rushing back to me and totally ruined my morning. I groaned and rolled over only to get my arm bumped on a head. I looked at it, annoyed, and almost died and gone to heaven. Short brown hair was spilled on the head – Dimitri.

Absently, I raised my hand to his hair. Well, I tried to but my hand was clamped against his hand. Oh my, God, we're holding hands! When I moved my hand, his head snapped up – eyes alert.

"Morning, comrade." I greeted him as his eyes closed in on mine.

"You're awake." He said, his eyes widening.

"You just realized that?" I joked and gave him a happy-go-lucky smile.

"Shit! Rose, you're alive!" Stas said a little too loudly beside my bed, taking my hands away from Dimitri's and kissing it like those romance movies always do. He looked so damn worried it was me speechless. I heard Dimitri grunt beside me. "You scared us back there, Rose." I was still out of words and he gave me a weird look and waved his hand in front of my eyes. "Rose?" he asked.

"Maybe she's just in shock." Dimitri said sullenly, stood up and walked off. His demeanor hurt me then and there, I wanted to cry. He must've seen my hurt expression because he called back. "I'll go tell the doctor you're awake." Stas took Dimitri's seat and kissed my knuckles while he was saying something in another language and it really annoyed the hell out of me that I couldn't understand a single word he was saying. I just looked at him blankly while he "prayed" with closed. I waited for him to stop but he didn't – I couldn't take it anymore and I spat.

"What are you f***ing talking about?"** (A/N: Sorry about the *s)** He opened his eyes and looked at me like an idiot.

"You can talk."

"Yes, moron, I _can_ talk." I rolled my eyes and was quite glad that my head didn't hurt anymore. When I looked back at him – it was my first time _really_ looking at him today – I saw that his nose was in its worst shape. "What the hell happened to your nose?" I screeched and examined it. I know that he doesn't see me as a sister but I still kind of love him as a brother. That will never change.

His brow furrowed. "You don't remember?"

"It's worse than before!"

He gave me a funny look and then he half-smiled, as if remembering what had happened back when he was punched (kind of). "You punched me back at the woods because you didn't want anyone to touch you." He then frowned.

"Huh," I didn't remember being awake after I fainted, let alone punching anyone. I heard the door open and people started walking in. I saw Lissa, Dr. Olendzki, and Dimitri.

"Oh, Rose! I'm so sorry!" Lissa jumped on the bed with me and hugged me – who was stuck with the needle and weird thingie-majigs – and Lissa started to sob.

_I'm so sorry, Rose! I tried to heal you but it wouldn't work! _Lissa said through the bond. I just hugged her back and stroked her hair.

"Ssshhh… its okay, Liss." I patted her back. She felt responsible to what had happened to me. "It's not your fault."

Dr. Olendzki cleared her throat and we looked at her. "Princess, if you could just sit there at the couch, I will check on your friend." Lissa nodded her head meekly.

"I'll just sit there, Rose, okay?" she said.

"Liss, I'm not mentally deficient." I told her but she still looked stricken.

Dr. Olendzki flashed lights in front of my eyes. "What's your name?" **(Quoting FB)**

"What?" I asked, squinting in the light.

"Your name."

"You know my name." I told Dr. Olendzki.

"I want you to tell me."

"Rose. Rose Hathaway."

"Do you know your birthday?" she asked.

"Of course I do. Why are you asking me such stupid things? Did you lose my records?"

Dr. Olendzki gave an exasperated sigh and walked off, taking the annoying light with her. "I think she's fine," she mumbled to Lissa.

The door opened again and Abe and The Goons (that's what I call them now) strode in with silent charisma in demeanor. When Abe saw me awake, he moved at lightning speed and held my hand.

"Kiz, you scared me." Abe said and squeezed my hand tightly. I wondered what _kiz_ meant but maybe it's just a stupid word I'll get used to.

I gave him my sarcastic smile. "It's the first time I ever heard a mobster dude scared about what would happen to me."

Abe chuckled and looked at me right in they eye. "And who told you I'm a 'mobster dude'?" he asked but I knew it was rhetorical – we had the same traits. Dads really are dominant. He turned and looked at Dr. Olendzki.

"Patricia, how is my _kiz_." That kiz again.

"She is recovering quite fast, Mr. Mazur. I didn't expect that she would wake up before three days." Dr. Olendzki scanned through her papers. "It may be a possibility that she won't remember what happened to her." She said as quietly as she could but I still heard it. Abe appeared uneasy.

"Can I talk to you in private, Patricia?" asked Abe.

"Of course, Mr. Mazur." Dr. Olendzki nodded. "I'll just be at the lobby if you need me." Abe nodded and Dr. Olendzki left with a fine flourish.

"Pavel, call Janine." And with that, Abe's very tall guardian stalked out. I scrutinized Abe's face – trying to see what we genetically had in common. As I suspected before, we had the same eyes but now I could see that we had the same skin color and hair. I scowled a little when I remembered how he acted like me – well, me acted like him, that is.

"Little girl, it's like you have seen me grow horns on my head." Abe smiled – I could see clearly that he was relieved that I was alive and well.

I grinned back a mischievous smile. "I doubt that you don't have horns already, old man." He then chuckled and Lissa was there beside me, ranting questions at me.

_Who's that guy, Rose? Why are you calling him old man? He could get mad, you know._ Lissa sent through out bond. _Hm, he looks like you if you hadn't noticed that._

I snorted out loud from Lissa's previous comment. Lissa shot daggers at me while Dimitri, Stas, and Abe were looking at me with a "she-must-be-crazy look". I cleared my throat and gave them an innocent look.

"What?" I asked them. "Dimitri, Stas, wipe the drool off your faces." I snapped at them, Rose-style, and it took every ounce of my control not to blush or laugh. "And old man, I'm not crazy." I told Abe and gave him a small wink.

"Oh, Rose, thank God." I was suddenly squeezed and out of breath. Ugh, I was hugged by a small redhead.

Just to amuse myself, I patted her unruly curls and mentally rolled my eyes.

_Oooh, Rose, she's getting all soft on you now._

**Everybody, please leave a REVIEW!**

**Love y'all.**

**XOXO**

**skyluvstark09**


	10. Ten: The Note

**Hey guys! I hope you ENJOY this chapter! I'm giving you clues on my author notes so make sure to read 'em!**

**Chapter 10**

"When did she wake up?" Janine – I mean my mom asked. Well, demand would be a more appropriate word to use.

Abe just shrugged innocently and smiled at mom. For a fraction of a second, I saw mom's eyes show emotions. It literally took my breath away because of that moonstruck and heartfelt stare her eyes showed even for just a mili-second. Then as fast as it had appeared, it was gone – her face was cold and expressionless again.

"She's been awake for only about ten minutes, guardian Hathaway." Lissa said and mom sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Princess Vasilisa." Mom thanked Lissa.

"It's Lissa," mumbled my best friend.

My mom turned to her scintillating glare at me but as soon as her gaze held mine, her eyes softened and slowly came near me.

"Rosemarie, do you remember anything before?" she asked cautiously.

"Meleği, the doctor said not –"

"Don't meleği-meleği me, Ibrahim. She _is_ my daughter and I need to know what had happened to her." Her heavily accented voice just got a lot worse. I saw Abe open his mouth as if to say something.

"Wait, wait, wait…" I waved both my hands in utter confusion. I scrutinized my mother and Abe's faces to see if the answer were only on their faces but they were pretty good at keeping straight faces. "Who the hell is Ibrahim?" I asked and raised a brow like Dimitri always did. I looked at the redhead beside me. "Mom?" I narrowed my eyes at her.

Mom and Abe exchanged uneasy glances.

"Later." They said in total unison.

"Kiz, we're going to talk to the doctor, okay?" Abe told me and I nodded and made a shoo-ing motion to my mother and Abe.

"Run along then." I faked an English accent and it didn't really sound half that bad as I had expected. This day was sooo full of surprises.

"So…" I filled in the awkward silence. "How are you guys doing?"

"Save that for yourself. How are you, Rose?" Stas asked, smiling brilliantly. When Stas talks, Dimitri doesn't. I felt like Dimitri and I were mentally connected because it was like every time our eyes hold, it was like he was projecting his thoughts and his feelings to me. As if we had only sent ourselves telepathic messages like Lissa and I do. This only made the saying – or song – "you say it best when you say nothing at all" be justified according to Rose Hathaway services – I was never the one t listen to those oldies songs. They just make me sick to hell.

Now, Dimitri was "telepathically" sending me the message that he really was worried about me and that he wanted to know if I was really okay.

I answered him with a smile – silently sending my reassurance. Out loud, I said, "I am super!" I raised my left hand and shouted and a not-so fake enthusiasm. My right hand was stuck with Mr. Needle so I wouldn't risk moving it, wanting to die if I have to see how Stas will react. The respirator and the heart monitor were gone now – thank God for small mercies.

"You don't know how good it is to hear that." Stas said and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug and I patted his back and released me, smiling like a Cheshire cat. I peeked at Dimitri and I could hear the wheels on his head spinning – he was not pleased by Stas' cocky attitude. The green-eyed monster called jealousy.

An hour passed just talking about Stas. Lissa was understandably quiet and Dimitri was bored but when he looked at me, he just smiles and winks – sometimes looking a little guilty when I catch him staring at me. It was Monday night (Moroi time) and Lissa stayed with me until it was curfew and so did Dimitri. I could see Dimitri's determination to ditch curfew and school to stay with me but hell to the no I would let him risk his grades just for me but I was indeed more than flattered by his sentient for me. Before going out, Dimitri kissed my forehead and had sent me his regards to me by only his eyes. God, what was I going to do with him?

When they were out, leaving me alone with Stas, I groaned in utter boredom. "What am I going to f***ing do?" I groaned again and writhed on the very uncomfortable hospital bed. Okay, writhing on a side-barred hospital/infirmary bed was a very _bad_ idea because when my knee hit a bar, it just all but screamed "PAIN!"

My words were amusing, though. "Son of a bitch!" I screamed and raised the thin hospital blanket that covered half my body; I saw the ugliest dark purple bruise on my knee. "Shit…" the profanity trailed off out of my tongue.

"Rose?" Stas hurried to me and patted me frantically. "Are you okay? What can I do? Do you –" then he caught sight of the big, ugly bruise on my shin, he stiffened. He muttered something in Russian and touched the ginormic, Igor-looking bruise, muttered something again and punched the side-bar of the bed, making a dent and impressing me despite the pain.

"I'll go get you an ice bag." Stas said and kissed my forehead before walking off. I sighed in both pain and boredom; I was alone and miserably ennui-ed. Without anyone in the room, I just sat up at the bed. Seconds of cocking my head from side to side, I heard paper rustling and I automatically looked around the room for its source and saw a paper falling unto my cot. I sat there, staring at it like I was in a waylay.

_Read it, Rose_, Pat urged me. She really knew how to push my buttons so I grabbed a paper savagely. It read:

_I hope you're alright._

_Miss you so much._

_xD_

My heart pounded so hard in my chest it hurt. The compressed dread in me evolved into a full-blown panic and fear. xD – it was _him_. I crumpled the paper and hid it under the sheets where nobody could see it. My composure was killing me or maybe it was forcing me to _kill_ somebody. No, maybe it was from Dimitri. It can't be him, it can't be him, it's completely impossible. I thought _he was _dead.

Blood rushed out of my face and my hands didn't function on my own; they were balled into tight fists. I _needed_ something to calm me down. A tranquilizer or something – oh, damn, just knock me down unconscious; I couldn't let many people see me when my temper's at its maximum – it could be fatal.

Just then Dr. Olendzki, mom, Stas, and Abe and The Goons made their way inside. Dr. Olendzki was unusually quiet and troubled. When all of them saw my face they all stopped on their tracks.

"I need a tranquilizer, please." My voice shook with so much restrain. Dr. Olendzki nodded and went to get the – I hope – tranquilizer.

"Rose," Stas started.

"What?!" I spat at him, glaring.

He raised his hands, he had an ice bag. "Don't do anything that could hurt anybody, okay?"

I shook my head. "I can't guarantee that." That was the truth.

He pursed his lips and slowly approached me like I was some wild lion. Yes, he had every right to be cautious with me now. I was dangerous, hell; I was everything but safe and friendly. "I'm just gonna put this on your bruise, okay?" I nodded one sharp movement and the cold of the ice made my already hot temper to spike up to overload and "lion's out, matey!" My fist moved on its own to Stas face and thank God for his ninja skills, he blocked my incoming fist. Mom, too, made her move when my foot moved to hit Stas' groin.

Emotions were playing with me, I just realized. There was rage, fear, guilt, _hate_…everything negative.

_You'll see. I'll come back. And _I _will get her, _it was a voice that I had loved so much at the past and thought that I would never hear it ever again. But now, it was mingled with hostility instead of his serenity.

_No, please don't do it! _Lissa? Shit, this was Lissa's head. She – or me – heard an evil laugh and the feeling of fear roared to Lissa's limit. It was affecting me, too. I started to kick everybody out of the way back at the infirmary.

_You will never take her away from me! After all you did!_ Lissa screamed in pure anger and her hostility just made my actions here in the infirmary worse.

_Try me,_ and with another laugh, his voice dispersed with a chilling echo. My vision was hazy and I was seeing black spots again in my vision. Everybody was in slow motion again; I heard voices but my hearing was like they were covered in glass.

"Lissa! Go to Lissa!" I heard myself shrieking at them and I was thrashing and twisting my body everywhere and I caught a chancy sight of my right wrist bleeding and its needle was out. "Lissa is in _danger_!" my voice said without my permission. Mom was looking stricken and worried as she blocked my absent blows and Stas was telling me to stop and that it was okay.

"Pavel, get the Princess and warn the other guardians." ordered Abe. Dr. Olendzki was there, too, holding a syringe. I tried to stop my body from thrashing but it wouldn't be ordered.

"Please hold her down for me," Dr. Olendzki said and everybody, including Abe and his other guardian held each of my limbs down. As soon as they made contact with my skin, my body flailed more and more and I heard snarling. It was horrible, I was the one snarling. Shocked at how I reacted, I just watched Dr. Olendzki, wasting no time at all, lifted the ugly hospital gown and injected the syringe just above my waist and I let out loud streams of obscenities without my conscious consent. It was like somebody else was controlling my body, hurting everybody who came near me. When Dr. Olendzki backed away from me, I started to calm down orally. My mouth was closed but I was still struggling against the people restraining me when the door burst open and my very tall, dark, and handsome knight and shining armor came in.

He ran directly to the head of the bed and held my sweaty face. He looked at me directly in the eye and soothed me with his words with the sweetest sadness in them "Ssshhh… Roza, calm down." His voice was strained and his eyes were bright with unshed tears. I stopped struggling against my "white-jackets". Dimitri sat on the cot just beside me and hel my face in both of his hands like it was the most precious thing in the world. "Roza," he pled with his eyes. "Stop this." there was agony in his voice and he seemed to age right in front of me.

And then a miracle happened – I snapped back to my own body and I was scared. So scared I didn't know what I would do.

"Dimitri," I whimpered and hot, fresh tears slid down my face abundantly and he took me into his arms. I didn't care what everybody would think about out embrace – I didn't give a damn.

Dimitri just held me – stroking my messy hair and whispering soothing messages in Russian. His voice and his accent always calm me down, I don't know why. I didn't hear anyone move but when I looked up to peek at what they're reaction was, we were alone. I buried my face on Dimitri's chest and smelled in his sweet, calming aftershave. Still, I was so, so scared. But I was not scared for myself now, I was scared for Dimitri. _He _is out to get me and now, nobody could ever stop him for a reason I just seem to know.** ('**_**He' **_**or**_** 'him'**_** is not Dimitri but someone else if you're confused)** Dimitri's connection to me just made it a lot worse – I couldn't bring Dimitri into this mess. Hell, this was more than just a _mess_, this was war with _him_.

_Let him go, Rose,_ Pat whispered dreamily.** (BTW, Pat is her conscience or the voice inside her head)** _You don't want to bring him into this mess, do you?_ Pat taunted. No, absolutely not.

Reluctantly, I disentangled myself from Dimitri but he didn't let go. He was the one clinging now.

"No, Roza, don't," he said with a strained voice.

"Let me in!" I recognized Lissa's voice. "Rose! I need to _protect _Rose!" Lissa roared and I jumped out of the bed and away from Dimitri to the door. They had Lissa restrained and she looked like a crazy woman – her eyes were, yes, savage and mad and her hair just made it worse.

"Rose, step back. She's not well." Mom warned.

"Nothing's wrong with me," Lissa snarled and bared her fangs at my stoic mother. Lissa bore her eyes into mine and screamed. "Rose, _he's_ coming! I _have_ to protect you from him!" Dimitri was there with me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I _knew_ who _he_ was. I just didn't like to admit that I knew and had received silent loving threat(s). "Who is coming?" I asked, reaching out for her hand even though she couldn't take it.

She tried to wiggle out of Pavel and Stas' grasp. "He tried to kill you once, Rose. Remember?" she said and sent me images of the car crash where her family had died. Well, I had died back there, too, but Lissa brought me back to life which brought me as a vacuum to spirit's negative effects to Lissa.

_He killed my family, too, Rose. He showed me in my dream how he did it._ Lissa said through the bond.

And I fucking passed out.

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**It's alright if y'all are confused! That is my goal for now. **_**He **_**– if y'all still don't understand – is another character but I'm not going to reveal who he is yet. Guess! And please leave a pretty REVIEW! And sorry for the short chapter!  
**

**I'll be updating soon!**

**XOXO**

**skyluvstark09**


	11. Eleven: Flashback in Time

**They say I'm a girl with a few words. I guess they're right. I can't say anything but thank you for all the awesome reviews!**

**Here you go, the eleventh chapter but this is just a flashback through time(s) just to clear things out! **

**In this chappie, mystery guy's revealed. So ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except for the pipz that are not at the book! Credit's to the incredible Richelle Mead!**

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**Chapter 11:**

**Flashback in Time I**

The sun was high up in the cloudless blue sky and the trees were a pretty color of healthy green and brown – the leaves making jade prisms on the tinted windows of the Dragomirs's SUV.

"You know, I never thought that Montana could have a single sunny day." Lissa mused with a small smile. She was wearing her favorite pale pink singlet, white denim shorts, flip-flops and a cute cap on top of her French braid.

"Me neither," Lissa's older brother, Andre, piped in. As usual, Andre was dressed like the royal that he is except for the slippers, though.

"Hey, guys, I thought you don't like the sun." I said absently as I took in the forest's breath-taking view. I was sitting at the front for safety precautions and Lissa was way back the SUV with nobody.

"It gets uncomfortable," Andre said, shrugged then smiled. "But it's worth it." Lissa and Andre said together and they laughed like hyenas. I chuckled, too, I couldn't help it – they were contagious. Even Force – the guardian driving – cracked a small smile.

Lissa's parents – Vasili and Inessa – were smiling, looking happy and content.

I kind of envied Lissa about how her family was so composed and perfect compared to my most likely to be "orphaned" state because my mom (and _father_) left me at the academy since I was five to guard a Szelsky lord.

Life _is_ so unfair but now that I had my Dashkov prince with me, life could be bearable.

Xander Dashkov and his silly scarves. Xander was – and still is – my boyfriend for the most of his school year there at the academy. He was transferred to another St. Vlads to some things I didn't know about. He was a very mysterious guy.

Xander had those amazing jade green eyes that would make every girl melt at his stare and that smoky black hair that always made him look like a graceful cat. And his height – it just made me swoon. I didn't know why I loved Xander just after I had met him but sparks were flying everywhere when he introduced himself to me like a gentle man – giving me red roses in surprise with small cards with messages signed with a little _x_ and a capital _D_.

Xander never really liked his name and usually tends to call himself as Bob. I always laughed every time he mentions that and he just laughs with me, too, as if nothing had happened. There were also times when he felt on edge and not very well – he drinks so much liquor it upsets me. I opened up to him once about his drinking and said he'd stop it all for me.

"If you'll just join me forever." Were his exact words and usually when he tells me that, he smiles mischievously like he had a secret that I was not in on and just disappears out of thin air. He was _my_ mystery guy.

Just then, I was pulled away from my day-dream by a swift, hard movement of the car. Everybody inside the car was screaming on top of their lungs except for me and Force. I looked at Force and saw that there was a blank look on his always-pacified bronze face and he was maneuvering the steering wheel in random directions, causing the car to cuspate a very sharp motion. As usual, everything had gone to slow motion when my adrenaline kicked in – I let out strings of swear words and jumped from my seat to grab and stir the steering wheel away from where it was headed which was a huge oak tree. As soon as I touched the leather of the steering wheel, I felt an earth-quaking impact hit me and sounds of awful metal crushing and glass breaking. The screams refrained.

I _am_ dead.

**Flashback in Time II**

_I was crying._

_I leaned on his blood-drenched body and tried again. I closed my eyes and waited for the magic to come to me but it didn't work. Nothing did._

_Oh, Andre, please wake up, I said silently as tears spilled from my eyes and hoped that a miracle would happen anytime._

_Andre, don't leave me…Mom…Dad…Rose…_

I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw were leaves swaying accompanied with black smoke. I sniffed the air and there _definitely_ was smoke. I registered and composed my thoughts first because I was having such a fucking headache that was making my mind go totally crazy. Crazy because the emotions – scratching out other senses – in me were whimsical; I was _very_ tired, and overruled by that were pain – both physical and emotional – loss and depression. I closed my heavy lids and consoled my "crazy" head; I was hearing…fire. It sounded like licking noises of flames and I felt hot, too. Uncomfortably hot.

_Fucking _headache! I hissed inside my head. The smell of scent was getting heady and it was making my headache worse than it already was.

I sat up from my uncomfortable position from the dirty ground, I groggily looked around where I was and saw Lissa leaning over an ugly red _thing_. My eyes closed as the memory of the crash came rushing back in and I resisted the urge to scream.

My mind made and audible click and I was on the move. I went to Lissa and gently take her arms away from the bloodied Andre. She saw me and her eyes showed relief and a little happiness despite her depression.

"Rose! Oh my God," Lissa sobbed on my neck and I rubbed her back gently like she was a fragile thing. "I thought you were dead…and…and…" she couldn't speak anymore, she was crying so hard she could hardly breathe.

"Ssshhh…" I kissed Lissa's forehead, wishing it would calm her down but it didn't. Not even one bit. I, ironically, felt Lissa's feelings as if they were my own. I was crying hard now, too. I couldn't hold it even with my guardian skills. Well, I cried because they were like my family, too. They were just like my foster parents – took care of me when my mother wasn't and my father never existed.

"Rose," Lissa wept and I could feel that my tank top was wet. The sun was still high up but we were under the trees' leaves shade, I wouldn't risk Lissa with just barely an "uncomfortable" feeling in her current condition. And speaking of shade – there was still the sound of fire.

I looked around the place and saw the breached, burning Dragomir SUV. Tears filled my eyes again and I looked away from it – wondering if the tears were from the sorrow of looking at the car burn with the remains of Lissa's family and a guardian or the heavy black smoke surrounding us.

I half-carried Lissa's crying body with me to a more secluded and shaded area and I cried out in pain.

"Fucking leg!" I accidentally dropped Lissa to the ground and looked at my right shin where the pain was from. I raised the ripped black jeans I was wearing and saw nothing there. Totally nothing even there was blood splattered everywhere on me.

I heard someone groan in…pain? I saw that that someone was Lissa. She tentatively touched her blood-stained right shin and whimpered. The same time she touched it I felt pain from my right shin, too. How coincidental, I noted and picked up Lissa's head and put it on my lap.

"Lissa, Lissa," I mustered all my will power to slap her on the cheek – just softly, though. She opened her eyes and saw that her jade eyes were plain with fatigue and pain.

"Rose?" she croaked.

"Please stay awake, Liss. Don't give up now." I told her and lifted her head off my lap and searched for anything to cover the huge, gaping red gash on her shin. I sighed in relief when I saw a dark green scarf with white initials that I didn't bother to read. I was too panicked to even figure out why was there a pure cashmere scarf in the forest.

I hastily wrapped the scarf around Lissa's wound tightly.

"Rose, stay with me," I heard Lissa say in barely a whisper.

Suddenly, we heard tiles screeching to a stop and people shouting.

"This is the Dragomirs' car!" the voice sounded familiar with that thick Romanian accent.

"Call the academy! We need aid here!"

"I thought they were just behind us!" the voice was so familiar with that thick Russian accent. My _brother_ – Stas. "_Akh bozhe moi! _Where the hell is Rose!?" Stas shrieked like a girl.

"She was riding with the Dragomirs." The first voice with the Romanian accent said.

"_Chyort voz'mi!_" that was Stas shouted when another screech of a car sounded.

I should have called to them but I was too tired. I couldn't muster the strength to even lift my head up.

I heard an audible gasp of a deep-voiced woman.

I was so weak…I was as weak as Lissa and my head was aching so much. It felt like a bulldozer just pressed on my head. I could see black spots everywhere in my vision of the dark woods and I felt myself drowning deeper and deeper into a pit of darkness and unconsciousness but before I did, I heard just a faint order.

"Survey the area. NOW!"

I was out.

**Flashback in Time III**

"Rose? Wake up, sweetie. You're alright now." I heard a voice of an angel say. _That _voice, my angel – Xander.

"Xander?" I murmured, still sleep-deprived.

"Rose? Thank God you're awake." I could smell something fishy in the air I was breathing in.

"Xander Dashkov, have you been drinking again?" I chided as I sat bolt upright the infirmary's cot.

I was right, he was drunk. He had dark circles under those weary jade green eyes of his.

"I drank only a few bottles of vodka," he shrugged innocently and hugged me tight.

I sniffed the air around me, trying to decipher what kind of vodka it was.

"Russian vodka?" I said it like it was AIDS.

I heard my Dashkov prince sniffle. "I had to, Rose. You weren't waking up and I thought you were going to _die_." His voice caught into a sob and I just hugged him back. I didn't know what I did to deserve anyone like Xander Dashkov to love me.

And then like a shockwave hitting me, leaving me shocked and distressed.

I'll admit that Andre and I weren't close but we had times that we enjoyed each other's presence and had grown up with him alongside with Lissa. I'll always miss him. And Vasili and Inesssa; they were like parents to me. Since my mom left me at the academy since kindergarten, Lissa and I had been friends and they welcomed me to their family like I were their own, too.

_Lissa_, a voice inside my head whispered. **(Currently as Pat)**

I pulled back from my sobbing Dashkov prince. "Where's Lissa?" I asked, almost panicking.

He frowned a little and then smiled at me. "Chillax," he rubbed my stiff arms and I noticed that I was wearing a very stupid-looking hospital gown and I was barefoot. Xander pointed at a plain white door to our right. I quickly jumped out of the bed and ran to the door, opening it noiselessly.

Lissa was there, staring at the bluish light and wall in front of her. She didn't even look up when I came in. I walked closer to where she was lying and saw that her hand was stuck with an IV **(Rose has to know what's an IV, right?)** and her lips were slightly ajar.

"Lissa?" I whispered, taking her IV-free hand into mine and her fingers twitched at my touch. "Lissa, honey, this is Rose. Can you talk?"

"They're gone?" she let out in less than a whisper and I felt despair choke the air around us, tears stung at my aching eyes. As soon as smelt liquor in the air, I _almost_ relaxed.

He draped arm around my shoulder and I looked at him – he looked genuinely sad but other than that, he looked angry. I touched his hand than was on my shoulder.

"Angry, Xander?"

Xander tensed up and closed his eyes as his nose falred.

"They should've known better than to hire Force." He all but growled and I could see Xander's calm demeanor fade.

"It's not his fault." I said just to calm him down. Yes, I blamed Force – just a little, though. Force was lazy but he would never let any Moroi down.

"No, Rose," he looked at my eyes intensely. "Look at what he had done – Lissa's broken," he gestured to the motionless Lissa beside us. "You could've died."

Abruptly, anger consumed my being and I _hated_ Force.

"He was driving recklessly and he was driving a damn royal Moroi family with him, he should have been more careful. Hell, he was driving a royal Moroi family in the woods where _anything _could happen." For a second, I thought I saw an evil glint on those mesmerizing eyes of his but it was gone as fast as it came. My anger turned to suspicion and despair.

"I don't really blame Force," Lissa voiced out in a tiny voice and I felt determination fill me – so much of it, it almost hurt. Despite Lissa's present state, she gave Xander a funny look and stared at us back and forth.

"Something's wrong here." I heard Lissa say but I didn't see her lips move.

"Did you say something, Liss?" I asked her, jerking my gaze away from the confused looking Xander.

She shook her head innocently. "I didn't say anything," she said and her brows furrowed. "Except for the 'I don't blame Force' part." She sounded more like herself again.

"Rose, can you hear me?"

"There it is again." I blurted out and Lissa shot me un-dagger-like daggers at me so I shut my mouth.

"If you can hear me, please don't say anything," her voice rang clearly inside of my head. I gave her a slight nod that was accompanied by a huge question mark.

Xander was frowning, looking at us back and forth.

"I don't know what's the exact problem, Rose, but I just have the feeling that it is not a good thing." She said through my head and a chill ran down my spine. It was a reflex reaction to every time something bad was going to happen. Unfortunately, I didn't get that reaction before the car crash happened.

I cracked her a smile and turned to see Xander, only he wasn't there. I was greeter by a paper with his initials. It read:

_Sorry for leaving so abruptly._

_I had to go to the feeders – slightly thirsty._

_I'll see you soon._

_Love,_

_xD_

**Flashback in Time IV**

"I knew that you and Aaron were dating but what's up with the Strigoi-wannabe, Princess?" Camille Conta, the bleach-blonde haired bitch asked. Well, accused rather. She was looking at Lissa intensely, her huge blue eyes practically bugging out of their sockets.

"Oh, what was his name?" Carly obnoxiously tapped her index finger on her chin. "Ozera was it? Christian Ozera?" she looked at Lissa like she had just won something.

"Hardly," I snorted and both bitches looked at me with confused looks.

"Uh, no," Lissa said slowly and the bitches looked back at her, they sarcastically batted their eyelashes at Lissa, feigning curiosity. Oooh, I wanted to crack a bitch or two's nose. Unfortunately, Lissa was calm; our "bond" as we liked to call it was safe from me. For now.

"He's just an acquaintance," Lissa had that same tone on her voice that she was using compulsion. Cautiously, I put a hand on Lissa's shoulder but she shrugged it off. She was pissed, alright. Go, bitches!

Exasperated, I looked around the place, making sure no one catches Lissa using compulsion on these two poor girls. I should say Lissa was good with compulsion because just a second passed; the bitches of royals nodded absently and started another conversation.

"Hey, I heard that Xander Dashkov is dating your best friend." Carly said, none too pleased.

"Yeah, and said they're going away together _forever_." Said bright-haired Camille.

I rolled my eyes and I just let Lissa handled that rumor to herself. I scanned the room, looking for danger that was coming. Nothing was coming fortunately but I felt a shiver run down my spine.

_What now?_ I sighed in exasperation and we heard a scream. A guy's scream. Xander's scream.

Quickly, I looked around the room, nobody was listening to it, and I didn't know why I was the only one who heard it. He screamed again and it turned into an ugly gurgling sound. Then heard by everyone else were glass breaking. A loud one and strings of Russian cursing.

I heard Lissa gasp and we ran toward where the broken glass window was. It surprised me that Stas was there, that might have been him cussing. Stas looked mad and deep in thought. His golden hair was a mess and I could see there was blood - little amount of it – on the broken glass window. Reflexively, I looked down at what was down but then I realized that Stas was holding a dark green scarf with white initials of _xD_.

My heart pounded so hard and the suspense turned painful. Slowly, I peeked down at who was at the window. People were already around the window, gasping in disgust and pity. I pushed everyone aside but before I could go peek at who fell, a hand was on my shoulder, stopping me.

I turned to see Stas' vacant guardian mask. He shook his head. "You don't want to see that, Rose." I didn't listen to him and I defiantly looked at who the hell fell.

My heart broke to pieces when I saw my Dashkov prince's body covered with blood.

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**If you're all wondering if the Masquerade Ball's still up, then yes, there will still be a ball! So stay tuned and I will update soon!**

**XOXO**

**skyluvstark09**


	12. Twelve: Eleventh Hour

**Finally, I thought I was going to die when Fanfiction wouldn't let me upload my woks...**

**:)  
**

**Chapter 12**

I heard beeping again. And there was some kind of funny feeling above my nose to my lips – it was some kind of airy thing – and the temperature around me was cold. Colder than the usual weather in Montana. I was tired and my lids wouldn't obey me when I let them open – and as usual, the disturbing memory of what had just happened came back to me.

I had received a note from my not-so long-dead lover, Xander Dashkov telling me that he hoped I was alright and was missing me – that could have been some kind of threat that was both loving and dangerous. After he died…well, I didn't do very well that's why I was in some kind of extra training with the head of the guardians, Alberta, to distract me from what had happened. And yes, it did work; it distracted me and made me one hell of a bad-ass novice dhampirs and Moroi seem to fear and I had only concentrated on my job. Protecting my best friend and assigned Moroi, Vasilisa Dragomir, who was also the last Dragomir bloodline. She deserved the best guardian she could ever have and I had pledged to myself that I would be that guardian. I would be my best for her but when I met Dimitri Belikov, things started to change.

My usual reckless, smart-mouthed, sarcastic self was reborn when he came. I didn't know what the hell happened but when our eyes met, it just clicked; I was back, the flirty and obnoxiously pretty Rose Hathaway and not the serious, hard-faced novice. Dimitri – he just made me feel so carefree and the usual run-of-the-mill stuff teenage girls do and think about when they're "crushing" and not a class act of the guardian-to-be Rose Hathaway. I think I was in love with a guy I barely know.

Ugh, this was so un-Rose Hathaway-ish. Well, beggars can't be choosers. And I'm a freaking beggar who is offered a Russian god as a…well, like a suitor. Or something, maybe…better?

Just thinking about Dimitri Belikov made me flustered and freaked out knowing that my ex-lover is out there for me – to kill me or whatnot. I was surprised that I wasn't scared for myself but I was scared _for_ Dimitri – Xander was not known as a fighter but he gets whatever he wants. All the time. And what he wanted was me and as I said before – Dimitri's on the way and I needed to push him out the way if I cared about him.

Admittedly, I cared about Dimitri. So much more than necessary for just training partners and a fellow novice. I couldn't really deny my love for Dimitri – it was not something I could hide from myself any longer. For short, it was inevitable.

I mentally sighed and I heard a door opening. Voices…I heard voices.

"Strigoi have attacked the academy but we were lucky that it was less than a dozen of them. No one was hurt or abducted because they were all amateurs." I heard my mom say. It was easy to identify her voice with that awful Scottish accent of hers. "It was like someone sent them here on purpose for distraction."

"How did they come in? Aren't there wards here?" Abe sounded angry.

Mom sighed. "The wards were broken because they had humans with them. We captured some of the humans to interrogate them but they were like in a trance and when they 'woke up'," I could hear the silent air-quotes on mom's tone. "They said they didn't remember anything." Mom didn't sound happy either.

"What do we do now?" Abe asked almost helplessly. "There is a coven of Strigoi out there – hunting for blood and the thing we love so much." Abe sighed in what sounded like defeat. "I just met her and I don't want to lose her now."

"I don't want to lose her either." Mom said. "I need and want to pay back those days that I wasn't there for her."

"It's the eleventh hour,"

"Not yet," mom sounded a little hopeful. "She's still alive, right? That's what counts."

"Half-alive." Abe noted. "She's in comatose, Janine."

"At least she's not dead," mom grumbled. It was the first time I have ever heard her sound so immature – I guess love always made you irrational, I should know.

They went quiet for a minute there and I could feel someone or both of them was uncomfortable.

"I should give this to her then," Abe said and I could hear someone standing up and walking to me slowly. "Rose?" Abe said softly. "If you can hear me, I just want to tell you that I will be giving this to you. A _nazari_ for protection." Something cold touched my breastbone and tinkling metal could be heard faintly in the background. Somebody raised my head and clasped something on the back of my neck – it was a necklace. And I could tell it was a pretty heavy one – considering its weight and coldness on my skin.

"There, it looks really good on you." I really am his daughter, I thought silently. I was quite happy that _my_ dad cares about me, too. I could tell that he loved my mom, too. Knowing how his words affected my mother. I know how Janine Hathaway feels – it was just like me; I put on my best guardian exterior and do my best in class but in falling in love – it was different. It's just like all you have been working for flies away and the only thing you want in the world is _him_. Abe makes mom feel _special_. Just like Dimitri made me fee – more than special actually but I couldn't put it into words. Words are only words – they couldn't describe love.

Despite everything else, I whispered to myself.

_I love my parents_.

~*xXx*~

His eyes lured me into this place.

It was a palace – a real one. It looked familiar but I still couldn't point out what was so familiar to it. As I stared into those deep and soulful depths of his green-blue eyes I felt myself smile slowly.

"Who are you?" my voice sounded like silver bells and chimes.

He just shook his head. He opened his mouth, as if to say something but nothing came out. His mask was still on his face but I could see clearly what his eyes were. They were amazing eyes – I wanted to drown into those sea-like depths of it.

He looked down and reached for something at the back of his tuxedo and revealed a black rose. American Beauty roses were my favorite roses but the color had me backing away.

"What is this?" I nearly shrieked.

_Rose,_ he mouthed as if he couldn't get his voice out. He was mouthing something else but everything went blurry and electric currents ran through my body. My body was jerking from it like I was having a seizure and the last thing I saw was the man holding out his arms to me. As if trying to catch me but I was falling already.

~*xXx*~

"Clear!" I could see Dr. Olendzki leaning over my body with some kind of iron on her hands. She rubbed them together. "Hundred-twenty volts, clear!" she put the electric irons whatnot on my – oh my God – naked chest and I saw my body jerk upward.

Wait, my body? I'm right here! Hello!

I saw the people around were Abe and the Goons, mom, Lissa (who was crying like crazy), Stas (who was trying very hard not to cry), Christian, and Dimitri. Dimitri was as still as a stone, I couldn't see him breathing at all. Within a minute, I saw him let out a very harsh breath and his face redden and he was crying quietly. Tears ran down his face profusely and set his lips in a straight line like he was trying very hard not to scream.

I wanted to console him but I knew that I was dead now.

"Two-hundred-twenty volts CLEAR!" Dr. Olendzki sounded so agitated. I saw my body jerk again and I felt a slight fluttering in my chest. "CLEAR!" my body jerked again and the fluttering became more pronounced.

Slowly, I took in my surroundings. Mom was leaning on Abe – who was out of his usual regal stance. Christian was holding to a very red and bawling Lissa.

"ROSE! DON'T LEAVE ME!" she practically screamed to my physical body.

Oh, Lissa, I wouldn't if I had the choice. The fluttering on my chest slowed and then it was gone again.

"Two-hundred-fifty volts, CLEAR!" my body jerked again and it was jerking very high alright.

Stas had his fist and face on the wall, his shoulders were jolting up and down and I could hear his soft cries. He was praying something in Russian again. I looked at Dimitri and was moving around the room, weeping silently. They looked so helpless. Even the sardonic Christian was on the verge of tears.

No question to my mom, though. She was screaming for me to wake up and was howling. Abe just kept her in place and it surprised me by his strength. Janine was very strong. I took in the picture of the place and silently said my farewell.

I stepped forward, glimpsing a last look on my face. It was deathly white and looking absolutely like death itself.

"Three hundred volts, CLEAR!" they still didn't give up.

My body did the jerk and my chest fluttered so much and I was sucked into somewhere over the rainbow.

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**I hope you like it and I'll understand if you won't!**

**Sorry, I couldn't UD early enough... So, what y'all think?? I wasn't able to, 'cause fanfiction was being difficult... Haha! Glad its not now!**

**I'll be updating as soon as I can!  
**

**XOXO**

**skyluvstark09**


	13. Thirteen: Dead or Alive

**I am so, so sorry for not updating in like a week. School is being a very bad bitch and I had to put up with ALL those homework! But it didn't stop me from reading fanfics!**

**BTW, thank you very much for the awesome reviews everybody! **

**And disclaimer: The first two sentences are not mine – I'm quoting from the movie Twilight. Ha-ha. And I do not own VA but I wish I do.**

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**Chapter 13**

**Dead or Alive I**

Living is hard. Death is easy.

So…considering the fact that I was on my "Limbo in Earth" – which was freaking me out badly – and I was spying on Abe who was outside the infirmary and talking to someone on his phone.

"Ibrahim Mazur," Abe said to his phone – er, to the person on the phone.

_Oh, so he's Ibrahim_, I thought. Great name for a dad. Note the sarcasm there.

I heard soft mumblings on the phone. They were calm yet it held power and order.

"I am not exactly sure –" phone mumbles "– yes Mr. Romanov." Abe answered primly. Abe was looking like the people on poker cards – with both his clothes and expression.

"I will do my best, Mr. Romanov." – Phone mumbles – "Right… thank you for your concern." With that, Abe snapped his phone shut with a loud clap.

When Abe was back inside, I saw that Dimitri hadn't moved away from where he was beside my bed. Stas – who was very injured – Lissa, mom, Abe and The Goons, and even sardonic Christian were there. If I was able to talk, I should have scolded them about why they weren't at school.

Instead of making a useless scene, I went to my bed and looked at Dimitri. I could see that his eyes were red and puffy from lack of sleep or from the crying they had just made just about an hour ago. It was then I first realized how they needed me now.

I _had_ to go back to them. Go back to the world where I could live with other people seeing, hearing and feeling me. And besides that, being a ghost was just freakishly weird.

_Go on, _Pat said. _You know you want to go back…_

Pat was right; I wanted so badly to be inside my own body again.

"So, is this what you call hell?!" I yelled and looked up at me – general direction of our almighty Father. Yeah, right. **(Heavy sarcasm, people.)** I waited for an answer but there was none.

Gradually, I walked toward my sleeping body. Yep, I really looked like a freaking undead stone! Those only made me want to come back more.

"How do I fucking get back inside?" I asked myself – speaking loudly to yourself could be one sign that you're crazy. Yeah, maybe this was just all a nightmare made by God Himself just to make me "repent" from my sins. Whatever, heaven wouldn't accept me either way.

_Touch the light…_ Pat whispered, her voice just like an early morning breeze passing. I looked around, trying to find the light and then I saw something glowing on my right chest. It was faint and unnoticeable to other people's eyes if they don't look at it well enough.

The light seemed to be calling me. Drawing me to it.

That must be the light, I thought.

Hesitantly, I reached up for it and I suddenly felt happy. Blissful, even. It made me more eager to hold the light to my heart and enjoy its happiness. As fast as I could, I leapt into the light to my body.

**Dead or Alive II**

~*xXx*~

What do you think about the enigma of the color combination of black and red? Usually, people tend to call them as Gothic colors for vampire addicts – well, honestly, I don't think so. If you ask me, the combination of red and black _only_ stands for the two Ds: death and danger.

Like that, don't I?

Shit and it was my dream. My dream was about black and red swirling around in confusing colors – turning into a beautiful but ugly picture of a rose. One was healthy red and the other was black and withered.

It sent some kind of unsaid clues – it just left me, I don't know, haunted maybe?

The dream just went on and on…

~*xXx*~

I opened my eyes and squinted at the bright light right in front of my eyes. It was really offending – considering that I just _almost_ died an hour or two ago – that shoving a huge lampshade in front of my eyes would be a good "welcome back from the dead, Rose Hathaway" present. It was definitely _not_.

I groaned and covered my eyes from the infuriating light and as I was turning away, a dé jà vu occurred – I bumped on a brown-haired muscled up Russian god who had his face on his arms – face down, sadly asleep. My heart made a tiny leap at his closeness and I swear my heart could be heard in China.

Afraid to awaken him, I just looked at him – not noticing anything else but the cute Russian sleeping cozily beside me. Well, not really beside me but it was as close as we could get.

I knew that I was in the infirmary and the worst of that was because I was in Intensive Care Unit – which was both embarrassing and infuriating for _the_ Rose Hathaway. And no thanks to God for that and a thank you for my very tall, dark and handsome knight and shining armor, I could relax even a one little bit when I was in a place where sick people were supposed to be.

Dhampirs don't get sick, physically anyway except when they're drunk, having a stupid hangover, pregnant or just plain shadow-kissed.

Yes, shadow-kissed. Ever since the accident where Lissa's family and I died – Lissa brought me back to life by her power of the highly unheard of Moroi element "spirit." The damnendest spirit makes me snap out of control and that was the reason I was having such an uncontrolled temper. Er, well, I had temper issues before that but it was worse than before (if that was even possible.). My normal non-shadow-kissed Rose Hathaway self would have had just aim innuendos at people who pisses her off but a full-fledged tornado-slash-hurricane-slash-tsunami shadow-kissed Rose Hathaway beating if you _unluckily_ did piss _her_ off. If not that, they would just only receive my piercing glare but those were rare – they were only reserved for Christian "Sardonic" Ozera.

"Roza," I heard Dimitri mumble in his sleep. I could feel blood creep up to my cheeks slowly, just like the way he said my name – slowly and softly.

Slowly (again), I took my hand away from his gentle and sleepy hold and wound it around the nape of his neck – stroking his silky brown hair.

Numbers of times had I tried to push him away out of my life but he just still _always_ kept coming back. Every time he comes back, it gets harder to push him away. I was not sure about what his main reason in coming back for me was. Maybe he cared for me, too? Cared more than he usually does to a heartless dhampir girl? I snorted silently; most people didn't like me due to my un-compensating attitude or just the plain old usual-ness of needy Moroi girls with flat chests and no curves. They are _so _shallow. And if you wanted to ask when my temper originally come from, it was since birth but it had only widened its range when I became shadow-kissed.

Lissa and I had our little but helpful theory: we both had noticed that whenever Lissa uses spirit or her magic, I get more than a little bit stiff and temperamental after or during that and, sometimes, it also causes me some sucky headaches that I just down myself some pain-killers to rid it off. Messed up, right?

"Totally," I mumbled to myself and I felt Dimitri stir lightly beside me – his head turning to the side, caught my hand in his before kissing my knuckles. I made no move when he did that, afraid to ruin the magic spell that had just bound us in the limited world. I looked at him and saw that he was still half-asleep and I just silently noted how cute he looked when he was sleeping. So peaceful and un-guarded. Instead of the Russian god I had known when he was not sleeping, he was now a Russian angel – all adorable and cuddly.

I sighed in almost contentment. I was looking – well, gawking at Dimitri's sleeping face when his eyes fluttered open, revealing the dark, depthless color eyes of his eyes. I didn't say anything, I just smiled at him.

He returned my smile and then straightened up from his position, now sitting beside my bed.

"It looks like you have a good morning today, Roza." He said as he squeezed my hand. His gaze could smoothen the crinkles of dried prunes – it was so intense…and loving, too.

Instead of answering him, I looked away from him and into the blinding light again, closed my eyes and stretched my stiff, aching body. From my current body state, it was nearly overwhelming to jump out of bed and into the gym for exercise or just for some good punches.

"Rose," I heard my mom say. She sounded quite incoherent and confused. I looked at her – er, them, actually. The four of them were crammed up in the sofa with Lissa, Abe, Christian and mom and as usual, the goons were standing – guardian mode. Someone was missing, though. Stas was nowhere to be found; I wondered where he was.

They looked like kids seeing their positions – Christian was sitting with closed eyes (asleep, I thought) with a sleeping Lissa on his lap and mom was cuddled up next to Abe. I should admit, they looked cute together.

"Mom," I croaked out and cleared my throat – hearing that my voice was as raspy as guardian Rossi's.

For the first time in my millennia of years not seeing or seeing my mom, I saw her smile with bright, wet eyes. I would have bet that Janine Hathaway couldn't smile or even jerk a tear when I hadn't known better. With speed that came naturally to her, she ran to me and hugged me _soooo_ tightly.

"Rose…" my mother crooned.

"Mom," I gasped. "Can't…breathe…" she then released me and put both her hands on my face – cupping my cheeks like a little girl. Janine Hathaway looked like she was about to cry, nonetheless.

"A-are y-you ok-kay?" she stuttered and wiped away the tear that escaped from her eyes.

"Yes, of course." I said with not-so fake enthusiasm. "Why wouldn't I be?" I added and a smile was playing on my lips. I was aware of everybody stirring around on their positions – vigilant of us awake and talking.

"Rose!" Lissa shouted in utmost relief. She ran to me with tearful eyes and wild hair, hugged me tightly and sobbed on my neck. Lissa blubbered how sorry she was and that what she would do if I was gone.

"I couldn't think straight because it was all so maddening after I had a horrible dream that involved my parents –"

"You know that I love you, Liss, right?" I told Lissa to calm her down but she just sobbed more – blubbering out apologies incoherently.

Everybody was gathered around now – Abe looking utterly happy and relieved, and Pyro was giving me a small genuine smile it shocked me into almost silence. Pyro never smiles _genuinely _at anyone except for Lissa. His demeanor just made me more worried at how much turmoil I had caused them.

Sooner than I thought, Lissa let go of me, rubbing her wet eyes and letting out a big yawn.

"You look tired, Liss." I whispered to her. "What time is it anyway?" I turned to ask my mom.  
It's eleven PM, Moroi time, Rose." Mom said as the door opened, revealing a haggard-looking Dr. Olendzki and a totally jacked up Stas.

Realizing that I had so much to ask and do, I touched Lissa's shoulder and said, "You should go to bed now, Liss. You still have school tomorrow." Lissa, surprising me by giving in so easily, nodded sleepily. "Go with her, Christian. Make sure she gets to her dorm safe and soundly." I told Pyro with a playful glare. He just smiled again and nodded then walked away with his arm around Lissa's waist. Huh, he wasn't such a douche after all.

When they were out of sight, Dr. Olendzki checked my eyes with the annoying light again, asked me questions about how I was feeling and the works. I thought about how Dr. Olendzki was all gruff and terse now – maybe she was just stressed-out from all her work. Jeez, doesn't she ever sleep, though?

"I _am_ alright." I assured her one more time and she gave me a scrutinizing look, sighed and walked off with her perpetual companion – Mr. Clipboard and Ms. Light.

"Stas," I started.

"It's nothing, Rose." I was taken aback at his tone. It was angry and almost annoyed.

"It doesn't look like nothing." I mumbled, offended by the way he talked to me. I tried to sit up on the bed and Dimitri helped me.

Sweet old Dimitri…unlike Stas now…

I saw Abe shoot Stas _the_ look but Stas just looked more agitated than before. I haven't seen him like this before – just the part of him I saw was his guardian part and my big, buffed brother part. Not this, I didn't like it one little bit – Stas _was_ like my sun, he was always happy and just perpetually huggable – this meant that something bad had happened.

"Stas, you have to tell me what's wrong." Yes, I was scared. This side of him was very disturbing. He had a nasty cut on his cheek, now covered in white gauze, and was black and blue everywhere. And I saw the most horrible thing just hidden from the ruffle on his black shirt's collar were tow puncture marks.

I gasped and jumped out of the bed – reaching for his neck. Everybody went into action too. Mom and Dimitri moved to steady me while Pavel – Abe's goon – steadied the IV's rolling thingie majig.

"What the fuck is that?!" I grabbed his neck before he could jerk away. I looked at the marks – repulsed at whoever did this. They were definitely bites. "Who the hell did this to you?!" I screamed – fuming. I wanted to kill whoever had hurt Stas. Hell, I even wanted to kill my ex-boyfriend for giving me such a fright just out of his message.

"I was bitten, okay?" Stas admitted and jolted away from my hold. His eyes held frustration and anger – I wanted to comfort him. "And don't you dare say this isn't my fault because it _is_." He said angrily and when I opened my mouth for a retort but it caught on my tongue.

His message held something hidden beneath the surface.

Stas looked like he was about to bawl any minute so he jogged to the door.

"Stansilav! Don't go!" my voice was pleading; it made him stop and look back at me. His blue eyes were ready to shed tears. "We _need_ to talk." He then turned full on me – hands on his sides, looking defeated.

"Mom, Abe, Dimitri, I need to talk to Stas privately. Would you mind?" I said but I didn't look at them – I was just staring at Stas because if I'd look at them it would be too much for Stas to handle. Maybe, just maybe.

Mom, Abe and The Goons went out silently with Dimitri trailing behind them. He was at the door when I felt his gaze on me, concerned. I gave him a slight nod and I heard the door close.

"Stas," I started (again) but he just ran to me like a baby and hugged me tightly. He was trying hard to contain his tears but eventually, it became too hard for him so he just let those tears flow freely down his face.

We sat on the couch – he was sobbing on my shoulder.

"I don't want to lose you, Rose." I was not sure if I had heard him right but it sounded like it. I felt a pang of guilt that I had caused him this much pain.

"Stas, you _are_ not gonna lose me." I said a matter-of-factly. "_Nobody_ is gonna lose me." It was a lie, though. I didn't even know if I'll survive the next few hours with sedative medication.

My statement just made Stas cry a little harder for a boy. His face was on my neck – last second he was crying and the next he was kissing me. He kissed my neck, my shoulder, my cheeks, my forehead, making circuits on them. He kissed me with so much passion it shocked me. He didn't kiss me on my lips, though. I wasn't expecting him to – it was not likely for Stas to do it without permission.

"I love you, Rose. Always remember that." I already knew that Stas loved me but it still hit me with a repeated reverberation of shock when he admitted it first-hand. "I was _in _love with you since the first time I saw you. Remember back at the woods?" he asked and kissed the corner of my mouth chastely.

_Crack!_

"_Who's there?" I asked as I snapped my head up and sharply surveyed the area – seeing a tall, blond guy. It was the most famous and talked-about novice Stansilav "Stas" Vladimi-whatever._

"_Uh, hi," shy guy, I thought. He gave me a cute smile and a little wave from his right hand that wasn't stuck on his pants' pocket._

"_You're Stansilav, right?" I asked and went back at looking at the pond – it was sprin gin Montana so the weather was sunny (a little)._

"_Yeah," he said, sounding embarrassed. "You can call me Stas." I thought about him being a naïve guy scratching his head in mortification, I peeked up at him and saw him doing the same thing – and he was blushing too. I couldn't help but smile._

"_I'm Rose." No need to tell him my last name, guessing that even one of the best novices would be scared at me. I had a reputation for…something not so compromising._

_I looked at Stas – letting my gaze wander on his face and body. Huh, he was as gorgeous as everybody has said. He had tousled golden blond hair, golden tan skin, dark blue eyes that almost looked violet, and a height and body to be reckoned with._

_He gave me a real full-blown smile now. "Hathaway?" Oh, God, what will I ever do to be just a normal person! "As in _the_ Rose Hathaway?" he laughed a little and I just scowled, turning my attention back to the murky blue-grey color of the dismal pond._

"_So what are you doing here?" I asked with the tone that I had used on everybody when I was pissed or some sort._

"_I'm here because I was avoiding people." He said quietly. "Girls in particular." He added uncomfortably._

"_Well, if you'd ask me, you had failed a hundred percent to do that." I mumbled and looked at my reflection on the pond. I, as always, had battle scars. Er, bruise to be exact. Guardian Stan Alto – a guardian at the high school department – had exchanged classes with guardian Johnson. Just the first sight of Alto, I didn't like him already. He always wanted to spar with me during combat classes and I just fail almost miserably because she was taking advantage of a thirteen year-old kid. But today, I was in a bad mood – I won (tee-hee) fair and square but I got the lamest reward. A black-eye._

_I realized that I was staring at Stansilav's reflection when my loathing toward Stan Alto was done._

"_That's a beautiful bruise, Rose." He said with a small smile._

_I ignored his comment. "Shouldn't _you_ be at your dorm?" I asked, focusing my vantage on the infuriating bruise._

_He shook his head while he flopped down on the bench next to me. "And shouldn't _you_ be at your dorm?" his answering my questions with questions – but it was worse; he was just repeating what I was saying. Nah, he's just teasing me, I just realized. Way to go tease the stoic Rose Hathaway._

"_If you're trying to make me laugh then you have failed. Again." I saw his reflection smile widely – revealing a small dimple on his chin._

"_So serious all the time, Rose." He said and lightly touched my arm. "Lighten up a bit; I'm going to be your instructor from now on. Alberta has assigned me to train you at your free time because guardian Alto couldn't give you 'failing grades'." That hit a nerve. "And I know guardian Alto is biased." I looked at him, liking what I saw on his face – it was a mixture of humor and honesty. "Promise," he held up one hand. "Been there, done that." For the first time, I liked a person who had a Russian accent. The accent always reminded me of Dracula and Dracula reminds me of Strigoi._

_I just nodded at him – not surprised at all. "I could tell that you are not telling me all you know, though." I said nonchalantly._

"_Suspect so, huh?" he sighed and crossed his leg like a king on his throne._

"_I _know_ so." I got bored looking only at his reflection so I straightened from my position, sat back and looked at him._

_What I saw almost took my breath away – his hair was the rare true color of cold and the light breeze of the Montana March morning (human time) was playing on his tousled hair. His eyes were mesmerizing deep blue with a playful smugness inside._

_I felt something inside me swell. It was a yearning. A yearning for somebody. A yearning for somebody to love but not in a romantic way but like family love. Like Lissa but instead I wanted to be the one protected, not the other way around. I wanted to have a big brother and Stansilav completed that sibling image._

_I mentally rolled my eyes at myself, was I really that desperate now?_

_At least be nice to him, the rational part of me said._

_Well, it won't hurt to be nice to Stansilav, would it?_

"_Stansilav –"_

_He held his hand up again to stop me from continuing._

"_Please…" he smiled at me sweetly. "Call me Stas, Rose."_

_And that was when I met my big bro Stas._

"Yes, I remember." I said and I was rewarded a small, sad smile.

"Starting that night you were always the star of my dream." He mused then turned sad again. "And then when _he_ died, everything just changed."

"Who's _he_?" I knew where this was headed.

"Prince Xander Dashkov." He said curtly and tightened his hold around me.

"Why? Why do you think it 'changed'?" I could hear the silent quotation marks on my voice.

With that, Stas slightly pulled away from me and looked at me intensely in the eyes. His face and eyes only masked seriousness.

"Everything will be revealed in due time, Rose." He said and unwrapped his arms on me and stood up, walking to the door.

"Stas, wait –"

He looked back at me with an almost haunted expression but it cleared out pretty soon.

"As I said before, Rose, everything will unveil themselves in due time; but don't worry." He said as bravery laced his tone and expression. "I'm _always_ here for you, Rose. Never doubt that." He walked out the door.

Just then Abe and The Goons, mom, and Dimitri walked in.

I was still lounging at the unusually comfortable sofa.

"So," my voice was dazed and confused from what Stas had told me. I put my bare feet down the cold floor.

"Ready to talk?" I asked Abe and mom.

Both nodded. Good.

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**Longest chapter so far! I hope you liked it!**

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**Love y'all!**

**XOXO**

**skyluvstark09**


	14. Fourteen: Kiss Me

**Hi, everyone! I'm pretty excited 'cause it's almost April and I'm turning 14 to 15! And it's almost school vacation here in the Philippines! A month more of treacherous studying and homework and I would give all my attention to fanfiction!**

**Here is my 14****th**** chappie! I hope you'll like it! **

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**Chapter 14**

**Kiss me**

"Welcome to the family."

Mom and Abe looked at me like what I said was completely, utterly and diabolically out-of-the-world insane. It was not, though. I just accepted Abe to the family that was all.

"And just for your information, guys, I am not insane." I said with a lazy grin. Mysteries were taking its toll on me – wearing me out until I was as slow as a sloth. Shit, I hope it doesn't affect my bad-ass fighting skills.

"So, what's the date today?" I changed the subject and both of them looked clearly relieved that I did. Being them as my parents I had read them so easily when they weren't wearing their stoical masks.

Abe and mom had the same expression on their faces that clearly physically stated "thank God, no hugging and other gooey stuff family does" and it almost made me crack up. Even when mom had just recently admitted that she loved me and Abe from her heart (kind of gross but, hey, she's my mom) she still wasn't used to having a person so close to her – for short, she didn't want to look vulnerable in front of us. Well, they're reaction just justified the mystery that I was their "love child" during their pre-adulthood lives – in other words, they were still had those naïve innocence _some_ teen dhampir or Moroi _had_ (I doubt that Abe had innocence, though but I appreciate their honesty). And I think they weren't teens, too, but I just had the pleasure of hearing them saying it to me first-hand.

"It's the 29th of October, kiz." Abe answered with a thankful smile.

"Don't worry," I stage-whispered to Abe for effect. "I don't like hugs either." I heard him chuckle under his breath.

"You have been technically asleep for three days after your two-day comatose and heart failure." Mom's voice caught in her throat a little and Abe – looking a little stricken from the memory – had no other option but to pull my mom, Janine Hathaway, into his arms in front of me.

They had told me how I _almost _died, Ibrahim's history, and the Strigoi attack that had left the school in shock but, mostly, they left out the details. Too bad I wasn't awake when the Strigoi "happened" to attack the school – I should have been there kicking their sissy asses out the academy. For one thing for me, I haven't told them about me eavesdropping on them and I had heard more details there compared to what they told me a while ago.

"So is the Masquerade Ball still up?" I asked, yet again, changing the uncomfortable subject – I was not a very big fan of notorious subject pushers like Dimitri. Although I was _the_ number one fan of the "Hot Russian Dimitri Belikov".

Abe's eyes lit up at that. "Yes, it still is." He said it like he was holding something back. As I said before – I _am_ no subject pusher.

"When is it?" I asked, jumping lightly on my seat.

"This coming Monday. November second as scheduled."

"Has Andrea made my dress already?" I asked, excited.

"Yes. Last time I checked – when was three days ago – she was already done but she was still designing those dark rose embroideries." Abe said aloud. I was half-conscious to Dimitri at the chair beside my bed – sitting down and playing with his fingers. I hope he hadn't heard that because my secret masked self would be busted.

Abe took out his phone and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Can I go?" I asked, giving him my best puppy-dog eyes and my delicate pout.

Abe looked up to me, confused, like I had just taken him out from his reverie of dwindling confusing thoughts.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him and pouted more and tried to look as innocent as I could muster. "Can I go to the ball, please?"

Abe smirked when he took in the look on my face. "Of course you can come, kiz. The ball is practically yours."

Abe and I looked at mom who looked like she was about to burst into protests but we both gave her exasperated looks.

Mom shot Abe a dirty look and said something in another language I didn't know and she didn't sound like she quite knew it well.

Abe gave her a charming smile and told her something in another language (Turkish, I guess) that sounded persuasive and loving. And I saw my mom blush deep red – her slightly tanned skin glowing by it. I always knew that my mom had been beautiful but her face now was just priceless – she looked like an adorable five foot nothing redheaded girl that had just been caught doing something she shouldn't. She glanced at me quickly and uneasily the she sighed in relief. She must have been convinced that I hadn't understood anything because maybe the look on my face was just as blank as they're conversation.

For the hell of it all, I think I should save mom from her mortification.

"You two should go rest." I suggested and saw mom blush again. It was a cute seeing her blush like this. "You all look sleep deprived." I added, pursing my lips to hide my smile.

Mom protested, saying that she should stay with me because she was my mother and blah blah blah. I just gave her the stink-eye and left with Abe and The Goons with a half-hearted "fine."

That left me with Dimitri alone.

"Hey, comrade." I mustered up my strength to give him a happy-go-lucky smile.

His infamous stoical mask was on but as soon as he pulled his attention to me, he smiled a cocky smile but it was mixed with concern. He looked like the Russian god again.

"Hey, you." He said and strode toward me at the couch then flopped down next to me, brushing his jeans on my bare legs at the process. My heart did a not-so little jump when he got close. And I should not; the hospital gown was torturing my ego.

He turned his head to look at me and his hair made a little flip by it, sending the scent of his fragrant and manly aftershave. His face broke into a heart-breakingly gorgeous smile, cocking one brow up. Even at his carelessness of showing his smiles to me so easily now, I could see his concern behind that godly ulterior.

"How have you been doing, Rose?" he asked curiously, but not in a nosy way – just by worry he did. "You dreams, are they all alright?"

That sparked a little memory. "Why do you ask?" I felt my forehead absently furrow as I tried to decipher my dreams that were hidden somewhere in my head.

"There was a thing that your mother and father didn't mention." He said instead of answering me and I saw a small flicker of lamentation on those deep, depthless eyes of his.

"And what was that?" I asked a little impatiently.

His eyes narrowed a little and I could see him battling over his thoughts whether to tell me or not – it was quite easy for me to read him.

"You can tell me anything…" I told him – it was the truth – and I took his slightly cold hand.

"I will tell you…" he said finally and looked me in the eyes with such tenderness it… I don't know, took my breath away? "For two conditions." Said Dimitri quietly. I felt my heart lurch as tiny tingles of electricity prickled pleasantly on my skin where our hands were joined. At this moment, I felt the missing puzzles on my heart complete. "Kiss me." those two words held all the power in the world in me.

He completes me, I finally admitted. I never felt this to anyone – not even to my Dashkov Prince, Xander. Not even with the combination of my mom and dad but this blissful feeling of completion was only there when I was with Dimitri Belikov.

Slowly, I felt myself leaning in to him. He didn't make any move but just stared at my eyes with so much emotion.

_This could have been just another day  
But instead we're standing here  
No need for words it's all been said  
In the way you hold me near _

I felt tears in my eyes - result to how he looked at me with so much…love and care. There was no trace of lust, only his yearning for my safety and love. I was happy to know that he reciprocated what I felt for him. These were just numb, insensible words. With Dimitri, there were no words to be said.

_I was alone on this __journey_

_You came along to comfort me  
Everything I want in __life__ is right here_

Our faces were inches apart, and I inhaled in his scent that I already loved so much. I snaked my hands to his neck and kissed him with all of me.

_'Cause this is not your ordinary  
No ordinary __love__  
I was not prepared enough  
To fall so deep in __love_

_  
This is not your ordinary  
No ordinary love  
You were the first to touch my heart  
And everything right again with your extraordinary love_

At first, he just kissed me back tentatively – leaving my lips tingling from his small, gentle kisses on my lips and I shuddered and my body tingled pleasantly where he was touching me. Eventually, his kisses grew bolder and his hands roamed over my body over the thing I was wearing. We tested each other with our kisses as we moved in total sync – it was like we were really meant together because of this connection we have. It made me both happy and sad.

_I get so weak when you __look at me__  
I get lost inside your eyes  
Sometimes the magic is hard to believe  
But you're here before my very eyes  
_

Dimitri wasn't groping me and I was happy about that. He wasn't pressuring me but he just kissed me passionately. His only desire was that I was safe and I could live happily – it was like I was reading it from his own thoughts. I had an advantage with it but it made me down when I almost heard his silent message saying: _be happy even without me_. I wanted to cry out in protest, wanting to say that I could never be happy without him. No, I can't even be sane without him.

_You brought joy to my world  
Set me so free  
I want you to understand  
You're every breath that I breathe_

As tough as a girl I was, I felt tears run down my cheeks. I couldn't handle keeping my feelings for him anymore; it was too much of a burden to carry it along with me in denial.

"I love you, Dimitri." I said against his lips._  
_

'_Cause this is not your ordinary  
No ordinary __love__  
I was not prepared enough  
To fall so deep in __love_

_  
This is not your ordinary  
No ordinary love  
You were the first to touch my heart  
And everything right again with your extraordinary love_

"Say it again, Roza." He said tenderly and knotted his fingers on my hair.

"Dimitri, I love you." I said a little louder. "I know that we have just met for barely two days but I feel this pull to you. A connection that _is_ too hard to deny." I admitted, pulling away from him and looking at him with blurry vision. I could make out that he was smiling sadly at this revelation.

"You don't know how that means to me, Roza." He said then pulled my lips back to his.

_From the very first time that we kissed  
I knew that I just couldn't let you go at all  
From this day on, remember this:  
That you're the only one that I adore  
Can we make this last forever  
This can't be a __dream__  
'Cause it feels so good to me_

"I love you, too."

_This was a dream! _I screamed to myself.

_No, it's not_. Pat rationally retorted.

I smiled against his lips. His words were the world to me. Before, I wasn't even expecting to fall in love for someone but my whole plan was just laid out there to protect my Moroi from Strigoi. But now, I lived for Dimitri's smiles and his face was my easy sanctuary to happiness. My life was dull and colorless without him but when he arrived – everything just clicked. And rumbled too.

'_Cause this is not your ordinary  
No ordinary __love__  
I was not prepared enough  
To fall so deep in __love_

_  
This is not your ordinary  
No ordinary love  
You were the first to touch my heart  
And everything right again with your extraordinary love_

Through all these confusion and turmoil in my life, it was all alright when Dimitri was there.

I could do _everything_ with him with me.

With Dimitri, every trial would be worth it. Even when my life is the one at risk.

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**I hope you enjoyed this chappie! I tend to get a little "over-doing" when it comes to lovey-dovey scenes. I love this song, though.**

**BTW, I have posted my VA: Young Love play list on my profile.**

**If y'all wanted to know the song on this chapter, it's called "No Ordinary Love" by various artists but the best version I had heard is the Filipino version – it's sung by MYMP.**

**Please leave some REVIEWS!**

**I'll be updating soon. Love you all.**

**XOXO**

**skyluvstark09 (Kate)**


	15. Fifteen: Released

**I can't wait for the Masquerade Ball! I hope you all enjoy this chappie!**

**Chapter 15**

**Released I**

"Second condition is…?" I trailed my statement off.

Dimitri closed his eyes and exhaled a loud huff of air before inhaling one deep breath. "Right…" he peeked at me with one eye almost playfully but I could see his indecision and concern behind those loving dark eyes. "I almost forgot about that." It was hilarious when Dimitri tries to grasp the demeanor of being funny – he had little sense of humor for such a charismatic man.

"Second condition." I sang and playfully trailed my fingertips across his arm – leaving fresh tails of goose-bumps on his tanned skin. I looked up to him from his arm and saw his eyes were open with consternating doubt. Maybe this wasn't so good.

"My second condition is…" Dimitri trailed off and swallowed. "Please don't freak out."

I had no choice but to crack up at what he just said and his expression! It was so P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S seeing his eyes widen more from fear and his face crumple with dismay as he watched me laugh.

"Rose, I don't think this is funny." He said seriously and I straightened and stopped laughing. Sometimes, Dimitri could get so hot and cold all the time. One minute he's laughing and the next you see him he's frowning – it was confusing.

I managed not to blubber out a giggle when he looked above him like he was sending God a silent message.

"You weren't completely unconscious for the whole three days after your heart failure, Rose." He said all of a sudden. His face contorted with emotions but he kept them on check so the stoical mask was on again. Dread filled me again – constricting the long-gone pain in my chest that had swelled when I had seen my prince die.

I knew that _this_ prince I was talking about was not really dead but I had learned to love Xander and it was – still is – hard to hate him for that. I wasn't so sure about his plans but my gut says that it wouldn't be good.

"W-what do you mean?" I tried very hard not to stutter but failed. I anxiously took my hair in one hand and twisted them around until it looked like a haystack.

Dimitri looked like he was about to take off just to end this conversation – which was unlikely for him because he was the one who always pushed to discussing subjects I (and maybe other people) didn't like.

"Mostly twice a day you wake up with a tantrum, screaming so angrily your parents and Dr. Olendzki didn't know what to do. When they get near you, you just scream more and fight with them. Dr. Olendzki just put you on sedative medication and tranquilizers to calm you down but it only made it worse." He looked at me in the eyes and saw that his had tears on them. The look on his face broke my heart and I hated myself for making him miserable. Absently, he took me into his arms and he inhaled deeply like I was his only source of oxygen. "Rose, you know that I love you already. Since that first day at gym I had felt this urge to be with you." He admitted, not afraid to show his vulnerability to me – he let out a _very_ small sob. "When you were screaming though, I was just back here at this couch, helpless. When I couldn't take it anymore, I shoved past everybody and sat with you." He pulled back and looked at me. "It was like a miracle that you tamed down when I was with you. That was why I was at the seat next to your bed always." He rubbed his warm, big hands on my stiff arms.

I was out of words. At how he described it, it was horrible – Dimitri even wept just mentioning it.

"You have to understand why you're parents didn't tell you any of those – it was not an easy thing to mention." He stroked my cheek and I could see his affection toward me by that one, small wave of emotion that appeared on his eyes. "Seeing the one you love hurting but you couldn't do anything about it." He continued. He looked down and he sighed. "Come one." He stood up and held a hand to me. "You have to rest."

Now that he mentioned it, I felt exhausted like I had been awake for many days. It was odd too that I hadn't been able to eat for five days but I still survived – I wasn't really hungry now, I just felt hollow.

"Okay." I didn't complain, I took his hand and let him lead me to the hospital bed and tuck me in.

"Sleep well, Roza." He said and kissed my forehead and I felt my lids go heavy.

I yawned loudly and shut my eyes. I heard him chuckle lowly and before I could drown into unconsciousness, I managed to tell him, "Stay with me, comrade." and I felt my hand warm from Dimitri's touch.

"I wouldn't dream of leaving you, Roza. Now, sleep." Those were the last words I heard from him before oblivion took over me.

**Released II**

It has been three exhausting days since I had properly woken up from my coma and I had learned to like the infirmary by that time I had spent there but I missed my own room at the dhampir dorms.

Dimitri and I barely talked to each other again after our declaration of love just a few days ago but I knew he still worried about me – I was quite glad that he hadn't mentioned anything his worries for me because it would only make me feel bad for getting them into so much burden.

Today, I was being released from the infirmary's sedative medications and uncomfortable cots – for short, they were liberating me away from the infirmary and back to school and gym. It was just a day before the Masquerade Ball Abe – my father – arranged for me. He was a very efficient man and that made me fond to him. I had learned that we were alike in many ways – our physical features and attitude both.

While mom was cool and steady, Abe was hot-tempered and elusive and I had a fair share of his genetically-transferred hot temper and mom's steady self-control. When I had been younger, I was just like a snub, emotionless and unpredictable like my mother but when I got older and the kids at St. Vlads were rubbing off on me and irritated me, my temper was reborn. Every time anyone pisses me off…uh, let's just say they never crossed my path again. I should admit myself; I was one scary dhampir girl to mess with.

But still, it wasn't in my power to avoid trouble and rumors. Jesse Zeklos, a deluded self-absorbed blabbermouth he is had spread the rumor that I had slept with him and let him drink my blood. Luckily, most of the people ignored it but it didn't prevent from me getting weird stares from everyone in campus. When they do, I just hold my head up high and continue walking.

"Rose, please, _please_ be careful." Dr. Olendzki had pleaded with me.

"I promise to be careful, doc." I had given Dr. Olendzki a reassuring smile and she had taken off the IV sticking from my wrist for the whole week now.

"Make sure you take your medications before going out of your room every time, okay?" she had fiddled anxiously on her glasses and tapped her clipboard with unease.

"I promise, Dr. Olendzki. I'll even take more doses than necessary." I reassured her but she gasped.

"No! Don't take more of your medications, you might get overdosed!" she had shouted.

"Okay, okay!" I held both my hands up in mock surrender. "I will _not_ take more meds than necessary, and I _will_ be careful." I enunciated it very well and was rewarded by Dr. Olendzki's relieved nod.

I was walking now, sadly alone, to my dorm. It was daylight outside as I passed by the Moroi dorms and fenced commons. I had told Dimitri that he shouldn't miss school because of me and reassured him that mom, Abe and Stas were there for me – he didn't concede right away, it took time to let him understand. Eventually, he agreed.

When I was at the dhampir dorms, I excitedly ran up to my room. I noticed that my door's room was open just half an inch and I opened my door cautiously. Then I smelled the air inside my room, they were the smell of roses. My room was dark and I tumbled to the room's light switch.

I gasped as I saw dozens of red roses. They were placed at my bed and its scent filled the empty and dull room. I ran to the flowers and saw a small, white card on the pillow of my bed.

Dire and terror was attached at every inch of my being. Another note. I was afraid to open it and reveal the message but I didn't let it get the best of me. Thinking what best I would do first, I went to go find my meds first before opening the note. I downed in the necessary dose and sat at the near chair and waited impatiently for the meds to kick in. The longest five minutes passed and I felt drowsiness take over me. Slowly because my muscles were a little jelly-ish now, I opened the note.

_One red rose each for the months we haven't seen each other_

_And a black, withered one for the day_

_I will see you again._

_Love,_

_xD_

Thank you, tranquilizer. I was numb and calm at the same time – I didn't have a violent reaction but I just felt the familiar ripple of lethargy inside me. My brain turned foggy and I decided it was the best choice to sleep in today instead of waking Lissa up for her plans tomorrow for the ball.

I hauled the bouquet of red roses off my bed and dusted my bed absently from the black, thing that was on my bed. I crashed down my bed and slept.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Rose!!!" the knock on my door got louder and more impatient. "Open up or I'll break this door down!" I heard a familiar childish giggle outside of my door.

I groaned and rolled off the bed, nearly colliding with the bouquet of roses and unsuccessfully stepped away from one withered flower. I kicked it in agitation and opened the door.

"Finally! I thought you were dead inside!" a woman with white-blonde hair with strawberry low-lights exulted as she held up huge paper bags from various stores.

"Andrea, what are you doing?" I asked and rubbed a weary hand over my sleepy eyes.

"We're going to the ball!" she half-whispered and half-shouted to me. She looked at a person behind her and I saw a copper-haired girl in her early twenties give me a small smile.

"That is my sister Aleksandra." Andrea introduced us and I waved at her sister and ushered them inside my room.

"So, what do you need?" I asked them. The two of them were eyeing the roses on my room.

"Oh, I am so happy that you are alright, Rose." Andrea jumped up and gave me a nearly bone-crushing hug, ignoring my question. "When Mr. Mazur said that you –" I raised my hand to shut her babble off.

"I'm sorry about my sister." The brunette, Aleksandra said. She gave me a shy smile, she was pretty and petite. "Our mom had hit her head many times on her crib when she was twelve."

I couldn't help but laugh. We had the same height and almost the same hair but not as dark. She had dark green eyes and I should say that I love her fashion sense, unlike her sister's.

"Ahem," Andre shot her sister a look of annoyance – fists on her hips and blushing furiously. "For your information, I did not have a crib when I was twelve!" Andre yelled like a defiant little girl.

"She's a little girl at heart." Aleksandra ignored her _older_ sister's outburst and I just laughed harder. I heard Andrea huff, embarrassed, I thought. "We're here to fetch you, by the way." Aleksandra said and took the paper bag away from Andrea and handed it to me. "If you want to get out unnoticed, wear this." I peered inside the bag and saw…clothes and accessories.

"Okay," I said warily and took the bag and sprinted to my bathroom. I stripped down my clothes and wore the grey zip front camisole, long black leggings, and ankle-length studded boots, with a short ivory trench coat for the cold weather outside. There were extra accessories like the spider Swarovski crystal ring, dark Proenza Schouler acetate-framed sunglasses, a silver hobo bag and make-up.

I made my way out – the make-ups in hand. "Mind if I take a shower first?" both of them just nodded and I took off the expensive clothes and took a quick, warm shower to calm my nerves down. I stepped out of the shower, dried myself, blow-dried my hair, applied the make-up, and wore the clothes back again. I was a little surprised that I had finished before thirty minutes came.

"That was quick," Andrea noted. I put in my meds inside the hobo bag and Xander's note. I didn't know why I did but it just seemed a little reasonable.

"Ah, where are we going anyway?" I asked them. And I thought about Lissa, I was worried about her.

"To Hobson, Romanov palace." Aleksandra said quickly and I put on the glasses as they sneaked me past the students, who stared at me wonderingly. When nobody was at sight, I took it as my chance to speak.

"What about Lissa? I'm worried about her." I said quietly.

"Don't worry; boss has arranged all of that. Your friend, Princess Vasilisa has her own guardian today." Aleksandra reassured me but I still didn't feel better.

"Who's the guardian?" I asked curiously.

"Boss has hired many guardians to come with us in the ball today. We're Strigoi-proof. The Princess is, too, because she got Petrov."

"You mean Alberta Petrov?"

"No, Borislav Petrov. Big guardian." She mused. Her eyes widened as we approached the black limousine.

"A limo?" I said brilliantly.

"Your father's orders. Bullet-proof and tank-proof, everything-proof. You're safe."

"Overprotective father." I mumbled under my breath and I caught a sight of a seven-feet tall and very broad guy.

"That's Borislav Petrov," Andrea murmured to me, making her first sound after we had just got out of my room.

I swear I thought the guy was a tree, he was so tall and…wide. He made a formal bow to us and greeted us with a thick Russian accent.

"Heiress," he said as he dipped his long torso to a bow. It was shocking that he had called me heiress in front of many students. The students, I noticed were Moroi royals, turned to look at me from head to toe – sizing me up.

I was feeling a little show-off-y so I bowed my head gracefully to the large guardian and made my voice sound different and imitated Abe's Turkish accent. "Guardian Petrov, it's nice to see you." The accent was funny but I managed not to crack up before we got inside the car.

As the limo drove away, I could see a tall, slim blonde-haired girl run up to Petrov – it was Lissa but she didn't stop to him but she just looked at the limo with a small smile on her face. She gave a little wave goodbye.

_Bye, Rose._

She knew.

**I hope I could update soon, school's going to start tomorrow and I need to cram for upcoming exams in Algebra.**

**Please leave a REVIEW!**

**XOXO**

**skyluvtsark09 (Kate)**


	16. Sixteen: She Walks in Beauty

**Very short chapter, I know. This is just a teaser for all of you who want to scratch my eyes out for not updating. I'm just saying: I will be updating… later.**

**I promise. I will even type the whole night to update for you guys.**

**Love lots and hope you all enjoy this teaser.**

**And ATTENTION: I changed the SUMMARY at the first chapter, please read!  
**

**Chapter 16**

"**Somebody" POV**

It has been merely two years since her soul has been calling to me. She was lost and full of grief and she appears in my dreams every single night I slept. She was a beautiful woman but it was resided at the emotional pain that conquered her fully. I tried to console her but she just pushes me away and tells me it is too dangerous to get involved with her. Sometimes when she doesn't know I was there with her, I could hear her say, "He's coming for me." And I could see an image of fire and a heap of metal that was a car before.

But since a week before today, her visits in my dreams were no more. I called to her but she was nowhere to be found. One day, I had been able to get into her physical body's dreams and it was as if she didn't remember me. Many times I had attempted to draw myself into her dreams, I only succeeded twice. I had the detriment of not being able to speak on my seldom visits in her dreams – I could only show her symbols. Empty symbols because she hadn't gotten the silent message of what I was trying so hard to tell her.

Fortunately, an older affiliate of mine knew her as his daughter and he had the interest to tariff my palace for her daughter's welfare. I gladly confided to him that I knew his daughter for some muddled reason and that I was eager to accept his concept.

I trusted him to keep my identity confidential to his daughter and he seemed wary – outraged, even – when I had admitted it to him. He was very protective of her and I liked that. I assured him that I was no threat to her life and he agreed but lost some of his courtesy. I didn't blame him, the girl needed as much protection as she could possibly get. I had helped her father gather some of the best guardians to patrol and ward over students of the academy.

Whoever this girl was, she needed a beacon of light to guide her to the right course of her life.

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**Please, tell me what y'all think of the cute-ish teaser!**

**XOXO**

**Kate**


	17. Seventeen: Palazzo

**Pictures at my profile! But, just a note, the palace is not exactly what you could see at the pictures; in my mind, the palace is bigger but that is just the only closest picture I could find for the palace.**

**ENJOY the short chapter.**

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**Chapter 17**

**Palazzo  
**

**RPOV**

I fingered the handle of the car's door absently as I took in the sight of the palace. It was marvelous; the front was dominated by antique gold-colored stone steps and pale gold porticos backing the wide arch doors which were cornered with beautifully carved stones of Venus de Milo and other Greek gods.

I had this sneaky feeling that I had, somehow, been in this place before.

"This is it." Andrea squealed beside me and she unconsciously hugged her sister Aleksandra tightly. I could see that she was very excited to move inside the palace and I should admit myself, too. I have a weakness for awesome things especially ones that involve architecture.

"If you won't let me go, I'm going to pinch you all black and blue, Andy." Aleksandra warned and I could hear the humor in there.

Andrea pulled away from her and pouted. She was about to say something when a tall man wearing all black opened the door behind me and offered his hand for me to take.

Hesitantly, I took his hand and let him help me to get outside (I could have done it myself, you know).

"Heiress," the guy was nearly as tall as Dimitri and I had to choke back a compliment of how much I liked his height.

Instead of ranting my ass off, I gave him a small smile and nod of acknowledgement. He seemed endeared by my small gesture because I saw his face darken in color and shrunk a little.

"Hey, Jake," Andrea waved at the guardian who just helped me out.

"Andrea," Jake gave her a small smile.

"Okay, let's cut the chase and move on! We only have limited time to wax and polish dear Rosemarie!" I blushed when Aleksandra mentioned wax. Did they have to do that?

Three guardians escorted us to the entrance and we were greeted by a tall, very pale, skinny butler with spidery fingers.

"Welcome to the Romanov palace, Miss Hathaway." He said in a cool voice and as I had expected, he had thick Romanian accent.

"Thank you," I had the grace to be polite now.

"I am James and I will be the one to escort you and your au pairs to your quarters." He said and walked to the red carpeted ivory grand staircase. I noticed that the floor was marble with drawings of vintage flowers on them – I really liked this place.

I could almost feel Andrea's physical excitement emanating out of her. Her exuberance was contagious because I couldn't stop myself from giggling out loud.

Aleksandra shot me a confused look and I rolled my eyes as James led us to our "quarters".

James led us to the third floor staircase by staircase and we all saw each of the floors' designs. It was very European and classy. Ugh, I hate rich people – they make me _so_ jealous. James told us a brief history of the palace as we slowly wound up the endless flights of stairs with him slowly moving – leading up the way to our designated room.

Eventually, we got there and he opened a carved mahogany door and presented the room.

No. Words. The room was simply breath-taking and marvelous. Even though I was not such a huge fan of fluffy white and pale blue colors, the room didn't totally made me change my views about it.

The room was a classic beauty – most of the wall was consisted of mirrors (which was not so creepy), and the floor was carpeted with dark baby blue plush velvet and the bed's sheets and lounges and vanity tables were the mixture of pale gold and ivory to give it a beautiful pallor of colors. At the corner of the room were flowers displayed – orchids, I thought it was. Atop of the room was an elegant chandelier with tear-shaped crystals as decorations for the floating light above. I _liked_ the room – it was beautiful on its own way. Not really the Rose Hathaway type, but somehow, I couldn't really satisfy myself in this room.

It was not me – the room was just too…fancy…too _arranged_. Huh, I couldn't get the right word out of my head, though.

I was torn out from my reverie by a thin, high squealing sound of Andrea's shriek. She was jumping up and down beside me like a crazed little girl, clapping her hands over and over again like a kid that was offered to stay overnight at the Disney Land.

I would have snapped at Andrea to shut the hell up but before I could, Aleksandra had slapped Andrea's shoulder and, thank God, shut up and stopped dancing.

"Heiress," James said and did a graceful gesture with his hand to the room. "This shall be your quarters." He said as his dark grey eyes looked into mine. "Don't hesitate to tell me if you would want another room, heiress, it is my job to please you." James kindly offered me, if not a spidery, friendly smile.

I shook my head in sheer disbelief – yes, the room was beautiful but I was disillusioned enough not to _love_ the room. Love and like are different things, if I say so myself.

"No, thank you, James. The room is just _perfect_." I forced the word out of my mouth like a dried bubble gum sticking on the bottom of the table.

"Very well then, heiress. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to tell me what that is." James motioned in two uniformed girls. "These are your chamber maids, heiress. Olga," he pointed at the cute, petite brunette. "And Mariana." He gestured at the tall perky-looking with light brown curls; with the same dark blue and white maid uniforms. Amazing me, they curtsied in total synchronization. Were they trained to do that? I was always mystified about this impression.

"If you don't mind, I will attend to master." James excused himself and walked off slowly.

"What shall we do now –?" my question was cut off involuntarily by a huge, sleepy yawn. From me.

"I think its better of you should rest before we do anything to your hair." Aleksandra said, concern lacing through her voice. Andrea nodded in agreement.

"Would you like anything before you sleep, heiress?" the petite brunette named Olga asked. I was, oddly enough, getting used to the heiress talk now but it still made me a little unsettled at how quickly I had became an heiress – a rich woman. I was neither rich nor a woman but I was just Rose Hathaway, novice guardian-to-be of the last Dragomir princess. But tonight (today, actually), I would prefer heiress rather than my real name. It was only for secrecy that I needed them to call me "Heiress." Yay, lucky me. Note the heavy sarcasm.

Anyways, I was so sleepy that the big white bed looked comfortable enough to sleep in even though my "taste-buds" wouldn't approve. I quickly took off the shoes and the white trench coat and flopped down on the bed with my bag.

The bed felt very comfortable and it felt like I could sleep here forever – albeit the color was sucky. I leaned into the clutter of gold and white pillows and my lids turned heavy. I yawned again, totally un-lady-like in the manner of it.

"I would like peace, quiet, and some fresh air." I requested and Olga and Mariana started fumbling at the drapes. "And a meal after I wake up." I didn't mean for them to hear my last request but they smiled at me like angels and curtsied. Ugh, I never thought they would always do that – I was sooo wrong.

"Have a nice sleep, heiress." Olga and Mariana chorused.

"Aleksandra," I called sleepily. Olga and Mariana had drawn the drapes to open the huge glass window – shit; glass windows don't make me feel comfortable. I should have complained but I was too tired to even raise my voice an octave. The air was pleasant, though; it helped me calm down my fraying nerves. It was nearly sun set because, as I could see from here, the sky already had hints of orange and pink on them.

"Yes, Rose?" Aleksandra answered and her head popped out from the walk-in closet.

"What time is it?"

"It's quarter to five." That's what I thought I'd heard.

"Thanks." I managed to say before falling into deep void.

~*xXx*~

My mind reeled into a strange vertigo of thoughts as I looked up to his beautiful eyes – it was the color of sea. A wonderful shade of bluish-green with his outer irises ringed with gray.

He twirled me around as we danced and I felt like I was a princess even though I was not.

I could see our reflection on the room's mirrored walls and the glassy-eyed stares of our audience.

Wait, rewind: audience?

I looked around: yes, affirmative, _oui_, _si_, uh-huh, there were audience – they were all wearing formal tuxedos and ball gowns and their faces covered with masks. Their eyes were uncovered though, they were all clear and glassy and they did not move, just looked back at me.

I had stopped dancing to look around the crowd for a familiar face. There were none but masks with blank eyes.

The guy I was dancing with wore a mask that was pure platinum and had a tear rolling inanimately down as a tear-shaped diamond with its tear tracks slightly glittered in; it covered half the length of his face, revealing a chocolate brown eyebrow, long nose, and pale pink lips.

He took my arm and put it on the crook of his arm like a gentleman and turned me around to face the opposite direction and pointed at a joker's mask.

I looked up to him, confused, but he just nodded patiently at the joker's mask again. I leaned in and squinted at the joker's eyes. Slowly, the color started to come – _his_ eyes were colored ice blue.

I hadn't realized whose eyes this was because the eyes were empty and expressionless – lacking its perpetual cocky, cynical stare and sneer.

"Christian," I gasped and as soon as it left my lips, somebody rather stumbled in.

Reflexively, I caught her effortlessly by her shoulders. I couldn't see her face but I knew that she was beautiful with her long golden dress and light blonde hair topped by a tiny crown. I was holding her up when I felt my hands were wet with some warm liquid. Automatically, I looked at my gloved hand and saw that the burgundy silk glove had darkened six shades darker. Even though I couldn't see it, I could literally smell it from the air – it was a nauseating scent of rust…and iron. Blood.

I dropped the girl's body and saw two pain-filled jade green eyes staring back at me. I screamed.

~*xXx*~

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**So, who do y'all think is the OTHER mystery guy?**

**I'll be revealing him in the right time. I already sorted out my plot and I am now planning what will happen at the ending. I had already written the epilogue on my notebook and am still writing maybe six more chapters to end Young Love.**

**CLUE: Unluckily, someone will have to die. I'm sorry but it should happen. It goes with the whoooole plot.**

**Don't worry; I think I'll be writing a sequel and there will be more RxD moments.**

**XOXO**

**Kate**

**P.S. I can't really keep secrets well. Ha-ha.**


	18. Eighteen: Nightmare

**Sorry, guys, I have to be a little mean: I need to get, I dunno, maybe 205 reviews or critiques before I could update again. I am attending sucky Saturday classes so I won't be able to update so soon. But I will make it up for y'all. **

**My mom's mad because my grades are making a nosedive and she's not letting me use the laptop on weekdays. I hope y'all understand.**

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**Chapter 18**

**Nightmare Part I**

**Lissa POV**

"Cousin, I hope she liked the flowers I sent her." An eerily familiar voice said and a bad chill ran down my spine. I looked at Xander Dashkov's pale face and green eyes – it hurt me seeing how we resembled in physical features. He had been a great cousin to me and then he died and became…evil.

As usual, I was speechless from fear and he looked back at me mockingly and pretended to gasp in horror.

"Have I rendered the Princess Dragomir to silence?" He asked in fake surprise with one hand over his heart.

My fear spiked up and so did some anger. I sent a silent prayer to God that my metal block was strong enough for Rose not to get a single peek at my thoughts and emotions.

"You'll never take her away from me, Xander." I tried to sound as menacing as Rose – she was very good at it and it made me envious that I couldn't succeed like her.

"Mmm… a feisty Dragomir princess." He said thoughtfully while licking his lips with his pale tongue – a tell-tale sign that he was Strigoi. "I think I might reconsider how I'll kill you then."

My heart pounded so hard from fear, I thought my chest would explode.

"Instead of just mercifully giving you a quick and pain-free death, I will just slowly…" his eyes gradually turned from jade green into a darker color of blood red. "…slowly tear you skin after skin and drain your body dry. Not even leaving a pinch for your dear best friend to see." He closed his eyes, imaging out his thoughts to me. He showed me blood, and a head…? "And then as soon as I'm done draining you, I'll decapitate you and display your pretty head at my personal museum." Xander smiled and I wanted to throw up. Or cry endlessly; this was torture.

Calm down, he's not real. This is just a nightmare, I tried to calm myself.

I took a faltering step back away from him, my vision swaying and clouded with tears.

"I like a feisty girl's blood." He continued with a small smile, showing his long fangs. His teeth weren't so much fangs as tusks; it looked like sabers. Scaring me, my knees gave in.

"And especially Rose's blood." He said admiration thick on his voice – admiration for the blood itself. "Your blood will not satisfy me as much as hers will to me, though, cousin." I whimpered from where I was. He was going to kill Rose.

"Do not worry, Lissa," he used my nickname and it made me more scared than before. "I will not kill dear Rosemarie like I will do to you."

My breathing picked up and my throat constricted from fear and anger.

"She will be joining me." he said simply and smiled wider at this concept.

Thinking what the best was, I kept my mouth shut.

"I'll kill you first so she'll get distracted…then I'll go temporarily kill her while she's confused at what happened with your bond then heal her and so – viola! We're bonded! He looked at me intently.

"I thought you were Strigoi, Xander. Strigoi are undead, they don't have magic." I couldn't keep my mouth shut.

Xander seemed amused at what I just said. "One of the advantages of being a 'spirit' user is that your magic won't disappear like others do, but they will…somehow advance. In a good way." He said and snickered.

"You're a spirit user?!" I shrieked in surprise – I thought _I _was the only one who uses spirit. I hadn't seen Xander specialize at anything either – I should have known.

"What did you think? I'm in your dream, I compelled those poor humans to break the wards…" he enumerated things and ticked them off with his fingers. "…_entranced_ Force to crash the car, and many more."

I wanted to cry out in anger – he was reliving a very painful past.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, my voice was breaking and scared. Very hazardous to question a Strigoi like that. Do not show fear – that Rose had taught me.

"Because you suck at being sneaky. See, Strigoi still feel compassion." He said tauntingly and smirked like he knew something that I didn't.

"No, you don't get it. Why _are_ you telling me this? I'm serious, Xander."

"It's okay if I'll tell you, you _will_ die eventually." He cocked his head to the side, a thoughtful look on his face.

"I think you have a question for me," Xander said and his eyes had returned to its normal color.

"Yeah, I actually have." I didn't know why he knew that but… I just thought him being a powerful spirit user, he could do almost anything.

He coughed out a laugh. "I _can_ do anything, Vasilisa." Xander murmured and leaned in to me, dangerously close.

"You want to know why I turned Strigoi?" he asked acerbically and a look crossed his face like a dark shadow. He was angry. "Because you stole _her_ from me." he accused and his eyes turned to red again.

I tentatively took a step back, for his own sake. I was afraid of him but I had fully convinced myself that this was just a dream and that he couldn't do anything to hurt me.

"_I _was supposed to heal her in order to have her bonded with Me." he snarled.

"Then why did you have to kill my family?" I retorted and tears sprung to my eyes, remembering how perfect that day was and how it ended…badly.

"Because I wanted _you _and _your_ family out of the way. So that she could be my guardian, so that she will love me and only me. Not you, some sick royal." Xander growled and his muscles tensed – he was quite muscular even for a Moroi and he was very tall, too.

I didn't have anything to say, I was just shocked and grief-stricken.

"And when I planned to kill you…that novice…what was his name?" he squinted his eyes and the he looked angrier than before. "Vladimirescu _heard_ me like the sneaky bastard he was." His fists tightened. "I had left that scarf to tell my dear Rose that I was _always_ there for her. Vladimirescu had used it against me, said that I was the one who caused the car to crash in some twisted reason. I should admit, he was right."

I just looked at him, feeling only an ounce of sympathy for him. I hadn't meant to heal Rose. I even thought that it wouldn't work –

"Don't think about that!" Xander shouted at me and I saw his muscles get more tensed.

I had the impression that he could read my mind. It dreaded me. My thoughts weren't only my own now.

"Then Vladimirescu and I _argued_." He continued like nothing had happened just a while ago. "It was at that party Zeklos held. He literally pushed me on the edge." Xander said in a grave tone.

"And now, I'm going to get my vengeance. I should have told my Strigoi fellows kill him immediately instead of weakening him and bringing him to me – he was not worth my attention."

What did he just say?

"I said that I just should have snapped that guy's neck to shorten the process." He replied, sheer exasperation lacing his tone.

So, what will you do to Rose now? I asked silently.

"Ah, I always loved talking about my beautiful dhampir." He said and paused, looking at his watch. "After I'll heal her, I'll awaken her." That was all he said.

"Why do you have to kill Rose?" I asked.

Xander chuckled lightly and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Have you ever heard of the quote 'one should rather die than be betrayed'?" I shook my head. "The quote has a point but not so much. As a Strigoi spirit user, I could play God. I kill them and then heal them but only lucky people get to live – and that lucky person is Rose _only_." His eyes brightened like he was about to explode with exuberance. "The point is if you are a Strigoi spirit user, with all powers so-and-so, then you heal _that_ person you will be bonded – not just mentally but intellectually. It's like you merge together – creating all alike thoughts. So, for short, there will be no betrayals."

"She will be as evil as you." I realized with defeat. He was giving me so much information – I really would die.

"Yes, she will be as evil as me." his eyes glinted mischievously. "And I like that."

And with that, he disappeared and my room came into view.

* * *

**Nightmare Part II**

"Lissa?" Christian asked behind my locked door with worry.

_It was just a dream, it was just a dream_, I chanted over and over again to myself – trying to calm down my conflicting emotions.

"Lissa," Christian knocked again, a little louder this time, and the door-knob jiggled. It was locked; I rarely locked my doors and it probably made Christian uneasy to see that I was. "Lissa, if you're not going to open this door any second, I will let this guardian here break you door." He warned.

"Don't break it." I croaked and hoped he had heard me. "Sorry, I just woke up." Again, I wanted to add. I stood up from my bed and unlocked my door, revealing a very worried-looking Christian.

"Lissa, what's wrong? Are you sick or something?" He put his hands on my shoulders. "You have been sleeping a lot lately." We took a seat on my lounge and he frantically checked my temperature on my forehead like a worried mom would do.

"It's nothing, Christian. It is not a crime to sleep, right?" I tried to joke but he wasn't affected even one bit. His forehead furrowed and his brows pulled slightly together.

"Come on, Lissa, you can tell me _anything_." He said pleadingly. I knew that he was worried but I didn't want to involve anybody in this mess. Yet.

"Again, I say: it is nothing." I said and stood up from the lounge and put my hands on my hips – trying to look funny by making a strict-looking face but he misread it as a dismissal. A look of hurt crossed his face but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared – I felt guilty. But I _will_ feel even guiltier if I tell him about what I was keeping from him.

"Is Rose coming?" I was relieved that he just let it go.

Christian's question reminded me of Rose's need of secrecy, which was why she had departed separately from other students. I understood why Rose did it, she needed it. She deserved it. And I would give it to her – she was, after all, my best friend.

"No, she isn't coming." I smiled at Christian and leaned down to peck his lips and flew to my closet after. I opened my closet, revealing the gold-colored ball gown I had bought online and the beautiful Venetian mask I, also, bought online.

"Is that what you're going to wear?" asked Christian in awe and astonishment. He should be, the dress looked wonderful. The skirt was wide with counted billows of golden bubbly folds; it looked like it was falling from the air. The top looked like a golden bustier embossed with embroidered white things – it was not identifiable with its conflicting directions but I was sure they were made by skillful embroiderers. The top was off-shouldered and kind of lacy. The mask complimented the dress very well because of its shimmering silver lace-like drawings handed to the dress' golden theme and white embroideries. It was simple but elegant – just the way I liked it. The shoes were simple; a three-inch silver stiletto with jewels on the straps would suffice.

"Well, start putting it on or whatever you do to make _me_ drool." He teased and I looked at him skeptically and saw that he was smiling like his old self again. His smile lost its wattage when realization hit him. "It won't take long, would it?" he asked and swallowed loudly, seeing his Adam's apple bob a few times.

"I guess this would take time." I noted and started pulling out the dress off the closet and put it against my body, marveling at its beauty one more time before I put it on. "Not much time, though." I added when I saw him tense.

"You should hurry up, though. We're taking off the next hour or so."

Next hour? I guess I had less time that I had expected. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Hobson, I heard. Off to some rich dude's house."

I nodded in apprehension and walked to my bathroom, dress and other stuff in hand. I washed my face and put only light make-up on and my hair in a natural-looking messy bun with a cute final touch: a crown. Careful not to mess my hairdo, I put on the dress; it was itchy but utterly worth the sacrifice. It looked rather devastatingly beautiful, making me realize how it hugged my limited curves – I always envied Rose's body but I was proud that she had those beauteous features, I loved my best friend.

After that, I put on my shoes and twirled in front of Christian, mask in hand.

"Ta-da!" I stroke a pose in front of him and realized that I had forgotten to wear the silk gloves I had bought with the dress.

"You look absolutely gorgeous, Princess." Christian said when I was done putting on the gloves and fetching a cute silvery clutch.

"Really?" I asked and batted my eyelashes at him.

"Of course. Only a stupid ass-hole wouldn't notice your looks." Christian and I teased and talked like we normally do while all the boys and majority of the girls in campus stared at us. I felt kind of self-conscious but, as Rose had taught me, I lifted my chin up and held my ground as we walked passed guardians, novices and Moroi alike.

I had received a couple of compliments from other royals that had marvelous dresses too and I just nodded to them, not trusting my voice if I'll speak.

When all the boys stared and the girls glared in envy, one person stood out from them. His back was to us, clearly not acknowledging either our enigmatic presence by the sound of our arrival or the banters of appreciation being voiced out from around us. It made me feel okay – not overly desperate of attention.

He was _very_ tall and had broad shoulders with a cute cut of chin-length brown hair. He was, unusual it was, wearing tuxedo with tails and I had the impression that something was missing from him that made him look half altered. The overtly long leather coat that always completed his fashion was no more.

Guardian Petrov had bowed formally to the guy with chin-length brown hair that I couldn't put a name on even though I was with the same room with him for at most a week now. He was the new student they had all talked about and he was also Rose's training partner. I remembered that Rose had a slight crush on him since the first day of their meeting but they grew closer together as time at the infirmary passed.

He looked at guardian Petrov, his body language telling me that he was annoyed. Receiving no reaction from the motionless and expressionless guardian, he quickly stepped inside the limo where an alert-looking chauffeur was holding open for him to get in. I saw that there was nobody else inside the abnormally long limousine and it left me wondering.

I deliberately took in the sight of the limousine – it was black and long with two flags with confusing symbols printed on them. I heard murmurs of admiration from the crowd around us when a smaller version of the previous limousine drove in. It looked minute next to the one that was driving savvily away.

Guardian Petrov opened the passenger seat's door and I walked, or rather ducked inside the limo and took my seat awkwardly. My gown was not as convenient as I thought it was – but then again, almost all gowns aren't convenient. Christian followed behind and wore his black and white joker mask.

"Please fasten your seatbelts, Princess Dragomir and Lord Ozera," I blushed lightly at how Christian's name was said with mine. I loved it royally. "We will be speeding manically when we are out of the wards' protection." I was glad that somebody had a sense of humor during their work.

Guardian Petrov slipped in the front seat and shot the driver an inane look and we fastened up. Looks like he was not as oblivious as I thought he was.

I reminded myself that this was a night for celebrations so I wouldn't dare think about anything but the masked faces around me and just enjoy the ball.

We were out of the protection of the wards now and as told before, we sped up. I closed my eyes and relaxed.

_Enjoy the ball, Vasilisa._

I gasped and opened my eyes only to see lit Victorian lights and a huge palace with a very big fountain adding up to the place's European look. The sun was finally down now and the only source of light was the antique lamp posts and the palace's flooding golden lights from the open arch door.

"Lissa, you okay?" Christian asked. His mask was withdrawn so I could see his forehead crumple with worry. It brought back the memory of…past concerns. "You slept again." That was all he said before the car door's opened. A man was there, he was probably on his late forties, and he was very tall and was wearing a butler's uniform.

"Welcome to the Romanov Palace, Princess Dragomir and Lord Ozera." He cracked a skinny smile and it seemed to light up his ghostly white face. When we got out, he led us inside the cavernous palace where a few were now there.

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**Okay, I take back what I had said at the previous chappie; I don't know how many chapters more there's going to be but I assure all of you that it will be exciting.**

**Love lots,**

**Kate**


	19. Nineteen: Blood Red

**Guys! I am so sorry for not updating. I know that I said that I will be updating when I get 205 reviews but nobody **_**did**_** review since the last time I checked my fanfic so I thought that you were mad at me for the mean blackmail.**

**If you are, I AM THOROUGHLY SORRY.**

**Here ya go, 19****th**** chappie. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 19**

**Blood Red  
**

I woke up, breathing hard and terrified from the nightmare. All I could remember was that there were blood, and the eyes – oh, all those blank eyes, it haunted me so much. There was one pair of eyes that stood out from the rest, though; they were beautiful eyes with the color of sea. A bluish green and the…mask – it was…silver?

I gripped my head hard from the headache.

"About time; I was just about to wake you up." I heard Aleksandra say not so far away from me.

I rubbed my eyes and gripped my temple again, calmly letting out the bad memories of the dream had caused. I prayed silently that I wouldn't lose it again.

"What time is it?" my voice was raw from sleep and I cleared my throat.

"It's six fifteen." She replied.

"Shit." I cursed and swung my feet off the bed. My stomach growled and Aleksandra chuckled. I looked at her suspiciously and…took in her pale skin and slim figure.

"You're a Moroi?" I asked, incredulous.

"What did you think we were?" she asked innocently and shrugged her elegant shoulders.

"I didn't know what I thought." I grumbled to myself and shook my head – still incredulous about the fact that I thought they were humans.

"You should eat before you take your meds, Rose." Aleksandra told me when she saw me fiddling on the hobo bag she lent to me. She pointed to a table where yummy looking foods were displayed.

"I thought that it was better for you to eat here because there were guests arriving already."

I nodded idly, forking something. "What time will the ball officially start, anyway?"

"Eight PM sharp." And she added hastily, "And if you don't know what you're about to put inside your mouth, that's sweetbread." I stopped the fork from coming to my open mouth.

"What's that?" I eyed the…liver-looking thingie.

"It's pancreas." She said and made a face.

"Oh man, rich people suck." I complained and repulsively put the fork down.

"Try the calzone! I requested that for you!" Andrea's voice piped from the closet.

"And what's a calzone?" Ugh, I suck at culinary arts.

"That one." Aleksandra pointed at the…uh, burrito. Well, it looked like one.

"Oh," I said, feeling kind of stupid for not knowing. I gingerly took a bite and as soon as it touched my tongue, I started scarfing down everything. I hadn't realized that I was so hungry. "This is the _most_ delicious food I have ever eaten." I said, remembering how cafeteria food tasted like.

"Don't underestimate Italian food, _la bella ragazza_." Andrea piped again from inside the closet. I wondered what they were doing there. I took one last bite of the calzone and peeked inside the closet.

The closet was huge – about ¾ the sized of the room itself. Andrea was there, on the floor, sewing something by hand on the red ball gown. My ball gown!

"Is that my dress?" I asked, trying to sound impassive.

"Uh-huh." Andrea nodded, not taking her eyes away from what she was sewing.

"What are you doing with it?" I asked curiously.

"Making some adjustments and cutting off stray _filo_." Huh, what did she just say?

"What does that mean?"

"It's thread in English. _Filo _is Italian for thread."

"Huh, Italian's weird, you know?" I said. "No offense." I added quickly.

"None taken." She replied. It was strange that she wasn't as bubbly and talkative as before. She even got her short bob in a messy ponytail – many stray hairs were poking out of the band that was holding them.

"Why are you adjusting the dress?" the dress looked…good but it was inverted inside out.

"We're retouching your dress' 'stealth mode.'" Aleksandra said as she rifled through the hundreds of hangers of clothes in the closet.

"No!" Andrea whined and thrashed on the floor like a defiant little girl.

"What? You wanna call it battle mode?" Aleksandra suggested with a sneer. "Oh, maybe Barbie mode would be more suitable."

Andrea gasped, looking shocked to death. "You just did not call _Barbie_ a – a…" she was too shocked to continue – her face was flushed from anger.

"Or maybe Tomb Raider mode?" I offered before the sisters would get too physical on there fight. They shot piercing daggers at each other – bright green eyes versus multi-faceted blue ones.

A strong gale passed by us when they just glared.

"Who's the air-user?" I asked, trying to distract them.

"She is." Aleksandra said and nodded to her sister then started rifling to the hangers of endless clothes again.

"I like air." I said and they said nothing. Moron.

"So, what are we up to now?" I asked them a minute later.

"You should take a shower first, I think." Andrea said in a small voice.

"No, she's done showering. Just wash your face and I'll do her hair while you're sewing there." They talked like I was not there.

While Aleksandra was doing my hair, setting them into neatly wavy locks, I wondered what the banter about the dress back there was. It took more time than necessary – considering my hair just fell at the middle of my back.

"What were you two bantering about the dress?" I had only given my opinion about the Tomb Raider mode by impulse – I should admit, Angelina was a great actress. And knowing what Andrea was like, it was apparent that she was – still is – a huge fan of Barbie. And either Aleksandra is in between or she just wanted to annoy her sister.

"Oh, we were just putting some chic, comfortable outfit underneath that regal exterior of the ball gown." She said nonchalantly as she twisted and turned my hair on random directions.

I wasn't expecting that – yet, she was being vague. "Be specific." I hadn't intended to apply the harshness on my voice but she seemed unfazed by it.

"As you had called it – Tomb Raider mode. And I called it stealth mode, isn't it kind of obvious?" She had a point and I hated admitting it – I was always right.

"Yeah, but I just said that on impulse." Instead of saying _that_ – I bit my reprisal tongue back and just nodded, swallowing my pride. It was really hard doing it but I succeeded – I wasn't about to scare people away when they have been only doing nice things to me.

"Saw the top of your gown?" she asked, maybe sensing my unease.

"Nope."

"Come on. You're hair is done – I'll show you. Andy's probably finished." She said, smiling, and started pulling me to the closet.

"Look, look! I am finally done!" Andrea screamed on cue.

"Whoa." The word left my lips when I saw _my_ ball gown. It was…breath-taking – literally. My breathing stopped and I couldn't think about anything else but the dress. It had looked great on the drawing but seeing it on _cloth_ was unforgivable for words. It was…wow – hot. And amazing, beautiful, elegant, stunning, foxy, sublime – argh! I couldn't believe this was _my _dress.

"See _the _top?" Aleksandra's voice interrupted my contemplation of thoughts that was making me slightly dazed.

"I can see that." I looked at the top and saying that it was gorgeous was just one hell of a crime.

The dress was a blazing color of deep red. While its skirt dominated in size, the top was just a stunning artistic embellishment of black roses and burgundy background that was worth dying for. The top was strapless and cut low, making a fair amount of cleavage be exposed in a manner that was too fair for words.

"Yeah." She replied and both nervousness and excitement emanated out of her tone. "Show her what we did, Andy."

Like nothing had happened, Andrea smiled and flipped the gown's long ski

"What's with that?" I asked, wondering what the skirt was for. I pointed at the skirt with a funny look.

"Instantaneous drop-dead gorgeous battle mode mini hakama skirt." Aleksandra and Andrea said together and they burst into loud, blatant laughter. I guess that was what sisters always do, I thought silently.

A while ago, they had just been fighting over the differences of their inference but now they were laughing so loud because of their same answer. Confusing, right?

"Okay…that's just _freaking_ weird." I mumbled and I thought that I was both positive that having a battle mode on a ball gown and sisters laughing just after a moot argument was crazy. Really. Then a thoughts hit me – why was there a battle mode on the dress?

"What's with the battle mode, laughing hyenas?" Ugh, I was not a complete idiot – Abe was taking cautions again. At least this one gave space for my dignity.

As I knew they would say: "Your father's order." They burst into laughter again and I sighed in partial exasperation – part of me felt loved that he cared for me and another part was quite irritated because of his paternal over-protectiveness.

"You just have to understand, Rose." Aleksandra murmured to me. They had stopped laughing. "You know that he loves you that is why he's doing this, right?" Andrea nodded at this sentiment and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. Don't get me wrong, I had learned to be fond of my father with just the short time I had known him but I just really wasn't the type of person that was comfortable feeling nostalgia. Hell, it was my weakness.

"Okay, enough chit-chat, ladies." I interrupted the silence that was building up. "Can I wear it now? As in _now_?" And with that, my excitement bubbled up.

"Sure," Aleksandra started fumbling on a pink-striped _Victoria's Secret_ paper bag and handed some items to me. They were simple red lingerie and a cotton cycling short.

I quickly stripped down when they offered me privacy and put on the clingy underwear, putting on the strapless bra and…et cetera. I eyed the dress curiously after I had put on all the things Aleksandra had given me, I called the sisters in.

"I'm an ignorant at wearing this stuff." I said and they helped me put it on. As soon as I was zipped up, I absently ran my hands down my clothed torso, marveling at how the engraved thread made such an incredible feel under my palms. The dress felt unusually comfortable – I had always thought that dresses and gowns were itchy and uncomfortable but this was like cotton and silk against my naked skin. I slowly stroked the intricate pattern of the embossed roses and sighed in almost content.

I reluctantly took my eyes away from the dress I was wearing to look up. My heart nearly stopped at the sight of the girl in front of me. She was the epitome of beauty. She was wearing a deep red gown that clung on every inch of her curvaceous body and as the skirt stood like an inverted fully-bloomed rose. Her skin seemed to glow a deep golden tan under that wonderful dress and her dark wavy locks were long and lustrous, carelessly fixed past her shoulders onto her lower back. I savored the moment looking at her face – her cheekbones were high and perfectly sculpted with a nose that stood long and proud, her lips were full, rosy and luscious with her slightly flushed cheeks and dark eyes that held recognition.

It shocked me more, realizing only now that this girl in front of me was _me_.

"You look gorgeous…" Aleksandra breathed and from our reflection on the mirror, I could see that she was amazed.

"She'll look even more gorgeous with make-up on." Andrea squealed and hugged my side carefully like a little girl.

And that reminded me, I wasn't wearing any make-up except for the unwashed excess of the foundation they gave me to put on.

"Come on, wear this." Aleksandra said, her voice raising an octave from excitement. She handed me a pair of black velveteen pumps – I bent down and quickly wore them. They were about four or five inches high so it gave me a height close to six feet – it was still far from Dimitri's height of 6'6" or 6'7" though I liked _not_ to be a foot shorter than him. **(I know I had mentioned that Dimka was 6'5" ½ here but he has changed a lot physically during the week he spent with Rose – in the infirmary, that is.)** I had no problem walking on them – I'm not saying I was used to wearing them but it was just my nature to be…_good_ at things.

Soon enough, I was being bombarded with powder, make-up and accessories by Aleksandra and Andrea. I didn't have the time to analyze what they were putting on at me or whatnot so I just relaxed back on the rotating chair.

"Would you mind if I cover up your _molnija_ marks?" asked Aleksandra as she sided my hair that was covering my two un-promised marks for my two Strigoi kills. I had only nodded, not quite sure if I wanted to cover up my tattoos that I held as my pride no other novice has. At least that was what I thought.

I lost track of time as they fixed, polished and waxed every inch of where my skin was exposed but I had the impression that an hour has just passed. I was consciously aware of somebody (I have my eyes closed BTW) rolling up silk gloves to my elbows and something cold and wide band on my arm just above my elbows. When Aleksandra had told me she was done with my make-up, I looked at the cold band on my arm and saw a thick, gold band with a weird-looking eye carved on the precious metal. Unsurprising me, it was heavy and I liked it – it looked like what warriors in movies wear to show what their reputation was. In this case, I had an eye for a symbol of reputation.

At last, Aleksandra brushed my hair with a wide-toothed comb to smoothen out the waves and now they more looked like semi-waves that actually made my hair look longer as it already is. She parted my hair to one side and put a little wax then I was done! Thank God for that.

Aleksandra and Andrea slowly breathed in and out as I held my breath. I was a bit excited to see what I looked like now.

As if reading my mind, Andrea rotated the revolving chair to the mirror and saw…myself?

Again, I should say, _she _looked otherworldly gorgeous. Her dark deep-set eyes were lathered up with a seductive looking smoky-eye make-up and the lips a color of ruby red, setting out the tan of her skin even more.

"This is the dress you were born for." I could say that that was an understatement.

"Right back atcha, babe." I replied and saw the girl's ruby red lips move when I spoke. Oh dear, who the hell was I kidding! _That_ girl was me! Still, it never failed to surprise me.

"The mask," Andrea murmured to Aleksandra and she strode off to the closet and just coming back with an eye-mask that looked great with my dress. It was a very deep red, looking more like brown, with a red and black flower at one side of the mask. Despite it all, the mask looked kind of old and foreign.

"Where did you get that?" I asked, pointing at the mask through the mirror.

"Like it, huh? We got this from Istanbul. They make killer masks there aside from _la Italia_." Aleksandra said and I had the impression that what she had just said was another language – Italian for exact.

_Oh great_, I thought bitterly. _Another one from daddy._

"Let me guess," I said as I tapped a finger on my chin. "My dad ordered that." They smiled and nodded, oblivious of my mood. Don't get me wrong but as I said before, he shouldn't treat me like a kid.

_You should give him more credit. He's just making up for all those past years of his absence,_ Pat said all of a sudden, not failing to startle me. Ah, Pat, always the reasonable one. My ass.

_Where have you been when I needed you? _I asked to her, sarcasm dripping on my mental voice like venom. I received no reply so I thought she was just stubborn.

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud, firm knock on the door and Aleksandra went to open it only a crack and I saw her visibly sigh in relief. I couldn't see who she was talking to but as they exchanged a few words, I could see that she knew whoever this person was outside.

While she was there, I looked back at my reflection and put on the mask that was lying like a loner on the table. As I knew it would, it fit me perfectly like it was made for me. Was it? To my better judgment, I erased that thought and …recalled happy thoughts.

_Dimitri…_

"Rose," I was taken out from my reverie by Andrea nudging me and holding my meds and a glass of water.

I groaned and took my meds, drinking it down as fast as I could without messing the lipstick. The medication Andrea had just given me was the special one – it only sustains my temper and doesn't make me sleepy but it just gives me more energy like vitamin C does. As soon as I downed it, I felt my head switch into lighter thoughts. It felt great.

"You know, I can take care of myself." I said as I reapplied some lipstick before looking at myself at the mirrored walls.

I saw Aleksandra walking toward me, a leather sheath and a silver stake in hand. Excitement in me bubbled up.

"Let me guess," I was surprised at how impassive my voice sounded. "Another caution." She handed me the stake and ducked down to put the leather sheath on my thigh like a holster. She leveled it just above the hem of the haka-whatever skirt and inserted the stake with expertise.

"Don't think that this is the last of it, though." She said a matter-of-factly. I turned at her sharply – my dress motioning with me like a red tornado.

"What do you mean? There's more?"

"Yeah…" she trailed off, biting her lower lip.

"Yeah what?" I asked impatiently, scowled and crossed my arms over my chest and started tapping my foot. Hard.

"There's just an army of guardians roaming around the palace. It's nothing actually."

_Of course there is,_ I thought bitterly and rolled my eyes in dismissal.

I _really_ have to learn how to understand or appreciate Abe's ways. They get weirder every passing day.

"And, oh, Rose," she called and tossed me an envelope. I caught it mid-air without difficulty. "A letter for you." She said, winked and turned to the closet to change her clothes, I think.

I mumbled out a thanks and went outside on the balcony – it was already night and the old-looking lamp posts were lit everywhere. The air hit me like cool, calming hands caressing me. I held the envelope tightly, praying that maybe this was not a letter I would be dreading to read.

_Rose_ – it was written outside the envelope and I opened it slowly.

_I see that you are having your fun and I understand that._

_Still, it doesn't change what I had planned._

_Enjoy the ball, my love._

_Love,_

_xD_

_P.S. I love the dress though the mask covers up your divine face._

"Oh, I will fucking guarantee you'll get your fucking ass kicked if you ruin the ball." I growled angrily. I was not in the least scared but I was mad. Just normal mad – not psychotic mad nor there was a darkness trying to drown me.

Well, fuck you, dude, I thought as I watched a long showy political-looking limo pull up. I could see adequately enough with my dhampir vision at the guy with a phantom mask. A chauffeur was running toward the passenger door but it had already opened. The guy walking out was _very _tall. About 6'7" tall with chin-length hair wearing a red and black tuxedo with tails. My knees nearly gave at the sight of him.

It was Dimitri.

As if he had heard his name being called, he swept his eyes around the area but before it could land on me, I was back inside the room.

Despite Xander's recent note, I felt better.

**I know that it wasn't that exciting but I ASSURE y'all that I will UD soon and there will be more RxD moments!**

**If you'll just kindly leave a REVIEW.**

**XOXO**

**Kate**


	20. Twenty: Masked Faces

**ANNOUNCEMENT: I have written another story and it's called DropDead Gorgeous. Please read it! I hope you'll like it! Written the summary only. I'm still typing the first chapter.**

**This chapter is consisted of Lissa and Rose's point of view if you'd like to know.**

**Have fun reading it and thank you for the reviews.**

**Again: disclaimer, VA is not mine though I wish it was.**

**I only own the pipz that wasn't at VA.**

**Note: I have posted a link to two videos I thought were great for the ball. It was from the movie Van Helsing and I should say, Anna looked H-O-T.**

**Sad ending though.**

**.Enjoy.**

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**Chapter 20**

**Masked Faces**

**Lissa POV**

"The Romanov Palace was first built in the early nineteenth hundredths when the last of the Romanov dynasty were assassinated by the Bolsheviks back in Russia, or so I believed. World War I began in 1914 when Austria – now called Czechoslovakia or Czech Republic – declared war on Siberia. I am not so sure about European history but I always knew that Russia lost due to poor leadership of Nicholas II. They fought with inadequate weapons and charged in haste. The Romanov dynasty came to an end when the final revolt in 1917 doomed them. Nicholas II and his family were put under house arrest and in July of 1918…" James – as he introduced himself – paused, cocking his head to one side. "…they were murdered."

The history of the Romanov dynasty was saddening and it reminded me of how the Dragomir bloodline ended too. I was the last royal Dragomir princess and it made me feel responsible for such a thing. Made me responsible to protect myself – keep away from danger in order to live out my royal blood. Most people treated me like an extinct creature – like a science experiment – but I never minded them.

James moved on to the next painting and we all gasped, captivated by the woman on the painting's beauty. The woman on the painting looked like a porcelain doll – she had the most perfect creamy white skin that seemed to radiate out a silvery light from her flesh. Her skin turned just as pearly seeing her very dark hair it looked almost blue and her dress was a midnight blue gown. Her eyes were a color of brilliant blue held innocence but with an underlying courage. Her posture was elegant and active; it was like she was running away from the painter as she held onto the skirt of her long gown.

James gestured to the painting with pride.

"This was one of the pieces our young master had painted. He made this about a year ago." He said with a small smile on his lips.

"Such a talent." I blurted all of a sudden but I didn't regret saying it. "What is the name of this masterpiece?"

"Ah, this is the adoring 'Moonlit Yasmeena.'" He said with a look of fondness on his eyes.

"Yasmeena…" I tapped a finger on my chin, thinking about what it meant. "It's Jasmine in English, right?" I asked, uncertain.

"Yes, you are right, Princess Vasilisa." He made a small courteous nod.

"Please, call me Lissa – I don't like formalities."

"As you wish, Lissa." He nodded again and explained a few things about his young master's work of art.

"Our young master paints frequently but does not sell them. He usually hangs his paintings inside his chambers and specials sights in the palace." It made me wonder how he was so evasive about the discussion of his young master but I never put that thought on well. I ignored it and he engrossed us with more paintings and sculptures.

"Wow," we breathed and moved on to another painting – it was the Romanov Palace itself. At night, of course but all things were set in with the brilliance of the lights surrounding the place. James discussed some brief history about how the palace was made like a teacher and we listened intently.

When the ball was about to start, a host was on top of the grand staircase just in front of a huge double door.

She was tall and statuesque and she was Moroi. She had the same pale skin like the rest of the Moroi and her white blonde bob was streaked with strawberry blonde strands which made her look like a kid than a thirty or so woman. Her dress looked stunning; it was an emerald green Maxi dress that carelessly hung on her shoulders with thin, golden straps and onto the length of her body. She looked like a model.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Andrea – your host for tonight – and I am welcoming you all to the Romanov Palace." Her voice was perky but pacified. "As we already know, it is time to start our Masquerade Ball but first, I all want you to give our special guest for tonight a warm welcome. We are truly blessed to have her presence here tonight." She said and I could see tears build on her eyes as she put one hand on her heart.

I heard everybody around me mumble in appreciation, surprise and excitement.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome: the heiress of Istanbul." She said and everybody burst into wide applauses, wolf-whistles and a few shouts. Ah, the nature of students. I have missed them.

We were at the front row of the crowd so we were just facing the staircase. The host, Andrea, was smiling and clapping her hands while holding the wireless microphone. She was facing the door and when it cracked opened the crowd just seemed to get louder with their cheers of welcome.

A girl was on the door. She was the kind of girl that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. She looked absolutely gorgeous. I was aware of the girls slowing down their claps and the smiles on their faces waver just at the sight of her. I was not one of those girls though. I found myself clapping harder and smiling wider at the sight of the heiress of Istanbul. I knew who she was even if she looked different. She was my best friend – Rose Hathaway AKA the heiress of Istanbul. For now. I was so happy for Rose.

She stood up regally and walked with grace to the host, exchanging a few words of, maybe, thanks.

_Rose, you look gorgeous. No, you look incredibly beautiful!_ I sent, knowing she would hear it.

As expected, her head shot up and her eyes landed on me. She smiled wide and gave me a small wave and a big, carefree wave to the whole crowd of masked faces. The host handed her the wireless microphone and Rose spoke in an accented voice that seemed to hold charisma and power to the student body because they had quieted.

"I don't know how to say this but… thank you for welcoming me. This is the best welcoming gift I could wish for." If I hadn't any known better, I should have thought that she was about to cry. She was saying this with a foreign accent that I didn't know – the venom on her tone that she always used in public was gone. She sounded kind and…calm. Happy.

She should be. I didn't know how she got her title of being an heiress but it was the least of my curiosity.

She bowed her head slightly, her regal posture never wavering. Stomach in, chin up, breast out, she walked down the staircase without any difficulty as the string quartet started to make beautiful music.

It was my first sight of the bottom of the staircase so I totally hadn't noticed that there was a very tall guy with black and red tuxedo with tails that looked familiar. His hair was tied back into a low ponytail on the back of his neck and I could tell from his posture that he was nothing but on guardian mode. For a novice, he was good at keeping that guardian stance and neutral face. Well, I couldn't see his face from here because he was looking at my gorgeous best friend who was now down the stairs, taking his offered hand with a breath-taking smile. If I was a boy, I think I had long been in love with her.

She looked very _blasé_ and I was glad that I had a special role on granting that.

_Have fun, Rose,_ I sent to her before turning to Christian and pulling him with me to the crowd of masked faces.

* * *

**Rose POV**

"You look absolutely gorgeous, Andy." Aleksandra had encouraged her _older_ sister to wear the green Maxi dress they had made for special occasions. Andrea was asked a while ago to be the ball's host but, oddly enough, she was hesitant to accept. Aleksandra gave her a few pointers and accepted the offer for her.

"You always say that but you don't really mean it." She mumbled while fiddling on the golden straps.

_Not again_, I groaned to myself.

A knock interrupted the growing silence and Andrea went to open the door with a warm, welcoming smile. As soon as she opened the door, covering her slim figure on the crack, she gasped and crazily said, "Come in, come in, come in, please!"

"Put on your mask." Aleksandra said hurriedly and she looked at her sister like she was a lunatic.

I didn't need to be told twice, I quickly slipped the mask on my face as a tall Moroi with olive-ish skin entered with a small redhead in a guardian's attire. Abe smiled wide when he saw me and then put an arm around my mom's shoulder, shaking her a bit.

"Our daughter has grown up like a beauty queen, meleği." Abe said and I swear I saw mom's cheeks pink up.

"It's the genes," I said out loud and ran to them like a kid and hugged them. I didn't have time to register my actions but when I noticed what I was doing, I pulled back from them, shocked. Shock was written across their faces too. No surprise there.

"Okay…that was _not_ me." I said mostly to myself than to them. "Whad'ya need?"

"Aw, we just wanted to see our beautiful heiress." Abe teased and I should say I was quite flattered being called beautiful or an heiress. Most of the time, people call me hot or sexy and it always made me feel like I was a piece of meat.

There was only one person that made me feel beautiful always. And that person was Dimitri Belikov. He makes me feel special in some weird, twisted but amazing way. I didn't know why that was but maybe that was what love always felt like. It was not a secret that I haven't fallen in love with anyone yet but when he came…my life just changed. It was like the hole on my chest caused by so many deaths was no more. I felt whole and I recovered from my near-depressing past that still lingered inside of me. Albeit before those deaths, I was never whole. It was just liked I had nothing in my life except Lissa and her family and…_Xander_. But when Lissa's family and Xander passed away… I felt worse than nothing if that was even possible.

"No seriously."

"We wanted to tell you that we are making you a title as an heiress from Istanbul, Rosemarie." Mom said in her firm, cool guardian voice. I beamed at them. "For now." She added.

I ignored what she said. "I thought I'd never say this but…" I paused to swallow up the bile that was issuing to rise up to my throat. I was about to let out a string of sentiment but it was swallowed down with the bile. "You two make a great couple." I said instead.

Abe smiled wider, his fangs slightly glistening and even mom, the Janine Hathaway, cracked her rare smile. Tonight was going to be happy and enjoyable and _nobody_ will ruin it for me. If they would, prepare to embrace Rose Hathaway's wrath.

After they left, I spun myself around in a girly way. Pretending that I had a partner who was invisible. Feeling awkward, I sat down on the bed. Another knock interrupted the silence and Andrea got the door, exchanged a few words and nods and then the door closed.

"Your presence, heiress, has been requested." Andrea said and curtsied at me.

"Great act, Andrea."

* * * * * *

I stood in front of the door, listening to Andrea's voice. She sounded unusually calm yet still perky. She was welcoming them and introducing herself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Andrea – your host for tonight – and I am welcoming you all to the Romanov Palace." She was saying. "As we already know, it is time to start our Masquerade Ball but first, I all want you to give our special guest for tonight a warm welcome. We are truly blessed to have her presence here tonight." I heard many people applaud. I felt a twinge of nervousness before the door opened up. I tried my best to stay calm and standing up straight was not a hard thing to do.

The door opened slowly like they do on suspense movies and I was welcomed by loud applauses and a near-to-tears Andrea. I had the impression that I was the star of the night. Under the limelight like a seriously popular person. I didn't know that Abe had hired some paparazzi. I could hear the clicking noises cameras made and the flashing lights that I tried hard to ignore. I gave them my "friendly" smile and waved at the crowd of masked faces. **(I know that I had been mentioning "masked faces" a lot so I'm sorry if it bugs you)**

I walked to the clapping Andrea and murmured a good luck for quieting the whole student body down. She just laughed at it and clapped more, giving me a small wink.

_Rose, you look gorgeous. No, you look incredibly beautiful! _Lissa's voice rang in my head all of a sudden and I had to manage not to cringe at how loud she was. My head did shoot up though. I hoped it didn't look too scary; I tend to scare other people away with my reflex actions. I roamed my eyes on the crowd and found the eyes I was looking for. The jade green ones.

I smiled at my best friend and gave her a small wave then a big one to the whole St. Vladimir's Academy students…staff and faculty will never go astray too.

Andrea offered me the microphone and I said a short thank you in my newly accented voice, bowing my head after that. Andrea, after that, bowed at me in a sign of respect and amazement. I took in the sight of the whole ball room and a figure on the bottom of the stairs caught my whole attention.

It seemed like the world had disappeared and the only thing left was him and me. Even with all the elaborate architecture of the ball room and the fascinating outfits of every single person in the area, they were insignificant next to Dimitri. He was wearing a black and red tuxedo and a phantom mask. It was very suiting. His posture was stiff, guardian mode, I presume. His hands were in his blazers outer pocket and it made him look…hot.

What? I couldn't resist the charms of one Russian guy. That is if it's Dimitri Belikov.

His face lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw me. The impassive look on his face was gone, appearing with a heart-felt appreciative and adoring look on his eyes. He gave me half a smile that seemed to melt my knees.

I resided the thought of how handsome he looked like and focused on putting each of my foot down on each step on the grand staircase. I savored the moment of my temporary life change like no other. I did not take it for granted nor did I want it to end fast. I was changed into an instant royal – from melancholy dhampir girl into a rich Turkish guy's daughter. Er, not technically though – Abe's not really a royal himself but he just has money. Plenty of them.

I had a little concept that maybe Abe had a friendly side on him that he just didn't want to show. Maybe, just maybe.

The sight of Dimitri wearing a tuxedo matching mine was beyond thrilling and it made my pace down the staircase faster. It was his deliberate hand move that made me slow down and take his hand as calmly as I could.

The warmth of his strong hand wrapped around my small gloved one. He gave my hand a little squeeze that sent tiny electric tingles on my body. And just the way he looked at me… it all but said that he _knew_ who I was.

Damn, Abe must've told him and asked him, somehow, to be my escort, I thought with a mental frown.

_Have fun, Rose, _Lissa's voice rang in my head again and I saw her walk away with Christian who was wearing a joker mask that covered his whole face. It was just _so_ Christian.

I focused my attention on Dimitri as we glided across the room and we waltzed slowly. I was pretty good at it because Aleksandra and Andrea had taken the spare time waiting for the ball to start at teaching me how to dance. The music started slow and Dimitri danced with me like an expert – moving with me in perfect rhythm, in total sync.

In a low voice, Andrea was introducing the ensembles that were going to provide the music tonight. Abe did not only hire a string quartet but he also managed to squeeze in a famous acoustic band. Moroi, of course.

Gradually, bodies started to dance in a slow, elegant motion.

"You look breath-taking tonight, heiress." He murmured to my ear, letting the full power of his accent rule his voice.

"Thank you, Mr. Belikov." He dipped his head down to let me whisper on his ear. "You too, as always, look gorgeous than ever." I gave him a thousand-watt smile and laid my masked forehead on his chest. Even on high-heels, I was always out of the reach to his almighty broad shoulders. Something…nah, everything about his tough, masculine state always made me feel all girly and soft inside.

I danced with him while he moved with me effortlessly, seeming to put his whole attention on stroking my hair. We made no such talk, only having pleasure in our comfortable silence. For a couple of songs, we danced together. No one daring to interrupt us. But when we heard a distinct throat clear, we slightly pulled apart and turned our heads at the _unwelcome_ intruder.

There was a six-foot Moroi with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a crappy _Zorro_ eye-mask. He looked like a skinny stick next to my hot Russian god. Oh, freaking well. I didn't know who the hell Jesse Zeklos was in this "life" today. And holy-fucking man, why can't he leave me alone?

"Mind if I cut in?" he asked and gave me a smile all girls – except me and Lissa – melt on.

Cocky son of a bitch, I growled to myself.

Naturally, (albeit, truly not Rose Hathaway nature) I disengaged myself from the warm embrace of my Russian and kissed his cheek softly and patted it. He glared away from Zeklos and turned to me with a – if not jealous – soft gaze.

"Later." I mouthed and gave him a convincing smile, kissed his cheek again and curtsied. He bowed formally and kissed my hand before stalking off.

My movements were a bit stiff but I managed to dance with the asshole Zeklos for one song without taking a swing at him. Before a new song started, a taller – still blond and blue-eyed – guy was approaching our tangled form. Or rather Jesse's tangling hands on my waist and hip. He was big and burly and every inch of him just screamed dhampir at me.

Before Zeklos could utter out a word, the blond dhampir was beside me, taking my hand and kissing it lightly without taking his eyes off mine.

"Excuse me but may I take this dance, heiress?" he asked me and Zeklos was looking at him from head to toe – sizing him up.

I smiled at the dhampir. "Of course," I told him and turned back to look at Jesse Zeklos, who was glaring at the blond dhampir. "If you'll just excuse us Mr. –?" Grace, poise and patience for an ideal heiress.

"Zeklos." He said quite smugly. "Jesse Zeklos."

"Ah, a fellow royal." I noted with a fake delighted look. I think I was overdoing the convincing. "Do you mind excusing me to dance with your…" I trailed off, looking at the dhampir closely. "…huge and handsome schoolmate?" _Ugh, so not me._

He had a thoughtful look on his face. Please say yes, please say yes! About a minute later, he bowed politely. "I don't mind, heiress." He winked at me like the cocky asshole he was before walking off.

The dhampir quickly took my hand and twirled me to a circle that matched the tempo of the music.

"I think I had just died and gone to heaven." He murmured, leaning close to me and a familiar scent of aftershave hit me.

The song wasn't musical now. Someone, a Moroi with dreadlocks, was singing. I liked how the song's music sounded. It was so… I don't know. I just liked it.

_Best of friends for years closer than you can imagine  
Talk to each other daily I don't know just when it happened_

_If only I could tell you how I feel inside  
Losin' sleep, I'm thinkin'  
Can't imagine how it feels to see you ridin' around with the wrong guy  
Tell me how do I take his place?_

"Well, as I can see. You _are_ alive." I knew that I was still pretending but it was better this way – respected. "Aren't you going to tell me your name?" I asked, filling in the silence that followed. I liked the guy – he was cute and shy. Reminded me of Stas. I wasn't sure if I have seen this gorgeous a face before at school. But then again, all I could see was his mask and eyes.

_You already know that I'm capable  
Can't you see who's been there all along?  
And I know I can't be wrong, oh tell me_

_Why... did I have to fall in love with you?  
When I know without you I can't function no more  
And you,.. you'll never look at me the same  
You know it's really drivin' me insane  
When I know without you I can't function_

"You actually don't know me?" he asked incredulously and lifted up his mask just enough to reveal a crooked nose.

I smiled knowingly and shook my head in a dainty move. I should have known that I had an alter-ego.

"I want you to tell me." I told him and ran a hand over the shawl of his tuxedo.

_Hardest thing about this confession is I just might ruin what we have I don't wanna lose what we got  
But it's a chance I'll have to take, ho...  
Don't wanna spend my whole life wonderin' what it feels like  
Bein' there beside you and kissin' on you all night  
See I been makin' a mistake ho, no-oh..._

"I'm Stansilav Vladimirescu." He smiled and twirled me again.

I gasped and put a hand over my mouth in feign surprise. I had already known it was Stas when he showed me his nose. I couldn't help but let out a breathless giggle and I felt my face heat up at such a contrary of a manner to my original self.

"I've heard a lot of things about you." I said teasingly. I was _never_ gonna give up and admit what he already knew.

He sighed in mock exasperation and rolled his eyes – it was the tell-tale sign that he was a little disturbed that I wasn't being myself and wondered if I had hit my head hard enough to change my attitude. Yet, he played along.

"I hope they were all good things." He smiled at me and touched the tip of my nose.

_Ain't easy lovin' you when you're lovin' him  
There's no words that can't describe  
(Words that can't describe)  
How it leaves me empty inside  
(How it leaves me so empty inside)  
When all I want is you...  
(Why... did I have to fall in love with you?)  
Oh whoa, whoa yeah...  
(Why... did I have to fall in love with you?)  
You'll never look at me the same_

"I've heard that you were the nest novice at St. Vladimir's in your youth, yes?" I took my accent to an overdrive and it slightly made it hard to talk.

"Yes, I _was_." He trailed down his finger on my nose to my cheek then to my neck. I didn't feel the same crazy tingling of electricity like I had with Dimitri but it wasn't an unpleasant touch.

_Why... did I have to fall in love with you?  
(It's drivin' me insane...)  
When I know without you I can't function no more  
(Without you I can't function no more)  
And you,.. you'll never look at me the same  
(How I need you right now)  
You know it's really drivin' me insane  
(Drivin' myself insane)  
When I know without you I can't function  
(I'm drivin' myself insane)_  
No more

_I need you  
I want you  
Can't you see this is killin' me... ?_

"Was? Why was?" I asked and took his hand away from my neck just to give it a squeeze. He had an odd look on his face that gave me goose-bumps.

He absently kissed the tip of my fingers and said, "For such a hate, I have to leave you." He pulled away when the song started to end. "It makes my heart ache to be away from you, heiress." He bowed formally with a hand over his heart. "This was the best night I had ever had." He stroked my cheek one more time and turned to his heel, walked off to where he had gone.

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**Read my other story too. I have written only the summary so far.**

**Love lots.**

**Kate**


	21. TwentyOne: Cold Nostalgia

**HELLO! I think this chapter is pretty short.**

**AND please read my new story**

**DropDead Gorgeous!**

**That's all.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 21**

**Cold Nostalgia**

Before another song had started, another student – a Moroi – cut in and offered me a dance. I obliged to dance about half the boys in school and I received many subtle unappreciative looks from other Moroi and dhampir girls. Trying to look calm and carefree was my main objective as I filled in my "ideal" heiress role. When another song ended, I subtly whisked away from the thickening crowd of dancers to get some fresh air. As I walked down the crowd, I received many greetings and compliments. I smiled and my eyes landed on a pair of jade green eyes on a golden mask.

_Hi Rose, I hope you're having fun,_ she sent before smiling and tugging Christian with her, letting me make my escape.

Thankful for Lissa with her quick thinking, I casually strolled away.

Involuntarily, I felt goose-bumps cover my arms. Not bad ones but they were those weird signs that I get when somebody was watching me. A _significant_ somebody.

Of course, there were people watching me, I tried to ease myself. I ignored the goose-bumps and walked past the last group of people in the ball room when another set of goose-bumps jumped out. I automatically looked around me as inconspicuously as I could.

When I saw that nobody was watching me, I reasoned to myself that maybe my body was just playing tricks on me.

I walked to the nearest open space and found myself in a balcony. Alone. Cold air splashed on my naked skin but it wasn't followed by goose-bumps – I was quite immune to the weather changes except when it gets too and that brings me back to where I was. It was _very_ cold because of the early November evening. Still, Hobson was not as cold as the Montana Mountains.

Absently, I inched toward the fringe of the balcony until I could see an extravagant garden with two lit lamp posts on each side of a wrought-iron bench and many tiny lights on the ground made the garden look more beautiful. As I could see, there were various kinds of flowers but what caught my attention was the fully-bloomed shrub of red roses at one side near the bench.

I don't know because I am not a botanist but was it possible for roses to bloom during fall? I thought they only bloomed in late spring or when-not.

I ran a hand on the smooth, cold surface of the of the balcony's marble deck and stared in awe at the garden. I didn't know how long I stayed there, watching and inhaling the fragrant scent of the garden but it was probably not too long because when I heard a gorgeously accented voice, he sounded calm and patient as if he had just found me when strolling by.

"You must be cold."** (FB de ja vu)** he said as he put his tuxedo blazer on my bare shoulders.

I turned to look at him on my side. His elbows were on the marble top, his tall figure facing the garden. My heart made a little flip when his aftershave hit me.

"Good guess." I told him and tugged his blazer around me tightly. I could see that his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing tanned, muscular arms that made me feel little and defenseless.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked him, pointing at his sleeves.

He shook his head, making a few strands of silky brown hair rally out of his low ponytail. An annoyed look crossed his face and he tied his hair back again.

I cocked my head to one side. I preferred his hair worn down. With deliberate hesitation, I reached out for the band on his hair and slid it out.

"There," I breathed and grinned, a little embarrassed.

What? The Rose Hathaway's embarrassed? No. Way.

"I like it better when your hair's down." I said, still keeping the weird accent, and ignored my mind's internal debate.

He looked at me with an intensity that seemed to burn the air between us, making me breathless. Suddenly, with gallantry that surprised me, he put an arm around my waist smoothly and faced me to him – stroking my cheek with his other hand.

"It is hard to pretend someone you are not, yes?" he asked a while later, looking at me through his phantom mask.

"Yes, it is." I said in my original American accent that I had grown with. It's hard; considering my _molnija_ marks and every patch of blemish I held as a precious treasure that I had achieved were covered up and even my identity was changed, I wanted to say but didn't.

I realized that he made me see that reason. That was one thing I loved about him – he makes me see things that I hadn't seen before.

He smiled at me, making my heart leap yet again. My vision around me into an insignificant blur – sometimes I felt that I only live for those rare smiles he lets out at seldom times of humor. He nodded slightly as if he knew something that I didn't.

"Hey," I punched his shoulder like my old self and I saw him flinch a little. "What did you mean about that nod?" I lifted his chin to look at me.

His eyes held a bright tell-tale sign that he was, somehow, amused.

"Tell me." I growled playfully but I was serious. "Come on," I pressed myself closer to him – teasing him until he couldn't take it anymore and tell me what he was about to say. "Please?" I looked up at him and gave him my man-eating smile and he closed his eyes. I tiptoed and leaned my lips close to him. "Dimitri…" I whispered and his lips brushed against mine as I did it. When he didn't say anything – just keeping his eyes closed – I lightly ran my tongue over his lower lip and I heard him moan. I mentally chuckled – it was _actually_ working. I clutched his hair and pulled his face down to me so I wouldn't tiptoe any longer. I kissed his lips, teasingly biting his lips until he gives in. Eventually, my provocative coercive kisses turned deeper when he kissed me back. Hungrily, I might add. Filled with so much zest it was illicit.

We, if not reluctantly, pulled apart. It was that or get caught. We had heard someone approaching in a fast sprint. I consciously patted my mask back to place as I took in Dimitri's slightly flushed face. His lips had no sign of red lipstick but it was a little swollen. He nodded at me, reassuring that I was good to go.

I looked back at the garden, trying to look nonchalant when I caught a chancy sight on a bark of a tree near the lamp posts. I squinted but a voice made me stop and look back at the balcony's entrance arch.

"Rose, you have to go. Strigoi are here." Stas panted from the arch and bile rose to my throat. His tuxedo was askew and his hair was a mess.

"WHAT?!" I shouted, outraged. "What the _fuck_ are they doing here?! Aren't there wards here?!" I threw questions at him.

"They had humans with them. They took us by surprise. They seemed to know that we would stray from our standards in this palace. The Romanov Palace is a holy place – no area for Strigoi." He gasped out and took support from the gargoyle statue on the deck.

"Then what are they doing here?!" I knew that asking was just wasting the time but I just felt helpless.

"We don't know yet." He said gravely and then screams started to emanate from the peaceful palace.

"What the hell?" I bellowed as a pale-skinned guy grabbed Stas' shoulder by surprise. He was probably human when he was awakened because of the poor reflexes he had – not trained enough. Stas took out his silver stake from his holster and chucked it to the Strigoi's cheek in an adroit manner. The Strigoi howled in pain and took Stas' arm and pulled him to his side quickly but before he could do anything to him, Dimitri got into action, staking him squarely in the heart.

The Strigoi staggered back and collapsed.

"Rose!" Dimitri called to me. "You have to go. Escape." He said and took my shoulders to shake it hard. "Go."

"No." I knew that I was wasting time again but apprehension and truth just drowned me in – making me dysfunctional.

_One red rose each for the months we haven't seen each other_

_And a black, withered one for the day_

_I will see you again._

There was one, black withered…_rose_ on my bed that day. And that day was just yesterday. One day. Today.

"No." I choked out and Stas shouted something at me before grabbing my wrist roughly. But before he could drag me out of the balcony, I caught a clear sight of the tree bark.

_xD_ was etched.

Oh, no fucking way!

"Where's Lissa?" I stopped at out tracks. Blood drained out of Stas' face at the mention of Lissa.

He groaned and closed his eyes. "Petrov wasn't with her." He growled through clenched teeth. He looked up at me with a pleading expression. "Rose, we didn't know…"

My hands clenched tightly into fists. "Well, that is just utter bullshit." I said and roamed my eyes for the nearest empty room. There was a plain white door at the corner and I dragged the boys inside.

No time to explain, I reached my mind out to Lissa's.

**Lissa POV**

"So, Christian, what did you think about the heiress." I asked, quite skeptical, and took a bite of my cookie.

He popped his whole cookie into his mouth without chewing. Ew. He frowned, considering.

"I guess she looked kind of hot." He said casually and shrugged. I slapped his arm lightly, not believing that he didn't think Rose was hot. Rose tonight – AKA Turkish heiress – looked otherworldly hot. Ethereal in an exotic way. Even without make-up, Rose _always_ looked hot. And beautiful.

"Aw, Lissa, even if she's wearing that lavish dress, expensive mask and probably a plastic body doesn't change how the way I look at you." He said and pecked my lips sweetly.

"Huh?" Callow as always, I didn't know what he meant by plastic body. "What's a plastic body?"

Christian threw his head back and laughed loudly, making a few heads turn in our way. "Oh, Lissa, I forgot about how naïve you were." He noted and stopped laughing. "Plastic surgery, honey. Do you actually believe that a Moroi could be that lucky having those volumes of flesh? And, oh, let's not forget about fake tan. No offense."

Oh, I got it. Well, better not to argue more with the case. I knew Christian well enough that he would win if I make a case out of it. I was never good at arguing but I always dreamt of taking law at a master's degree.

"You know, that heiress kind of looks familiar." Christian said all of a sudden with a sly smirk.

My eyes widened. "What do you mean?" I – mercifully – sounded pacified.

Christian rolled his eyes at me. "For the years you and your annoying dhampir best friend had accompanied me through the shadows of my life, you don't think I'd know you behind a mask?" he asked, cocking one brow up.

I gasped and quickly covered his mouth. He had long taken off his mask. "Ssshhh!" Someone will hear you!" I hushed and looked around the place cautiously. Luckily, there was nobody in sight. Or within hearing distance.

"Relax, Lissa. I already know it's a secret that should be protected. It's safe with me." Christian said through my hands.

"Please, Christian, do _not_ tell anyone." I practically begged with my best puppy-dog eyes that I knew he couldn't resist.

"I wasn't planning to, Lissa." Christian smiled at me lazily as we walked through one of the many hallways of the Romanov Palace nobody was at. There were still many paintings James hadn't been able to show us. Christian and I stopped to admire a work.

It was, again, beautiful. The woman on the painting was sitting naked with her creamy white back and pink soles of her feet only seen. The lounge she was sitting at was beautiful and it matched the color of her skin. Her hair was the color of true gold and her eyes – in closer inspection – were green. Her skin didn't give out too much curves, though, but she was just slim in a healthy way. Her golden hair hung carelessly on her slim shoulders and one of her hands was on her arm, trailing her fingertips delicately on her upper arm. In small, italic letters at the bottom-right of the painting was:

_05-09-08_

"_Radiant Sunshine"_

_M.R._

It wasn't long when I felt Christian's kneading fingers on the back of my neck. He _knew_ full well that that was my weakness. I gave into temptation and kissed Christian. **(Ugh. Sorry, guys, I don't know if I could write Lissa/Christian kissing scene. Sorry.)** I shivered. Not from Christian's sensual touches but it was from the temperature. A big, cold gust of wind swept to us. I hadn't noticed that there was an open glass window just at the side of us.

And that was when I saw them – lurking red eyes. My breathing became labored and I frantically tugged and Christian's tuxedo. Tears sprung to my eyes as the fear overtook everything else.

Christian looked down at me. "Strigoi." I gasped out before he was slammed against the wall by an unseen force. It was enough to knock Christian unconscious.

I didn't' do anything. Didn't scream or call for help. I just stared at Christian's motionless body. A familiar chill ran down my spine.

My body stiffened and I managed to look back at the open window where a tall, slightly muscular figure was – leaning on the windowsill carelessly. Not afraid to fall knowing well that that was the cause of his death. His face was cast in the shadows but his bright red eyes only confirmed that the nightmares I had were true. He stepped out into the light with a smirk.

"Hello, Vasilisa." He greeted me and everything went black.

**Ooh, what do you think will happen to Lissa?**

**What was wrong with Rose before? Will she save Lissa from Xander?**

**Who do you think was watching Rose inside the palace?**

**Please, pretty please: do REVIEW!**

**I'll UD soon!**

**Love lots.**

**Kate**


	22. TwentyTwo: Renegade Pack

**ENJOY :-D**

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**Chapter 22**

**Renegade Pack**

"I can't get a hold on her. She has been blocking me out ever since she got those freaking dreams." My heartbeat was as erratic as my breathing. I could even feel tears spring to my eyes. I ripped off my mask and the skirt of my gown, uncovering my mini-hakama skirt that lay underneath.

"Rose, what are you doing?" Stas asked his eyes wide. Dimitri was just quiet beside him – his eyes darting around the place. Probably looking out for any danger.

"No time to explain but I do know who's the Strigoi in charge of attacking." I said through clenched teeth and searched the drawers for something to tie my hair on.

"Roza," a hand touched my shaking hand. I hadn't noticed that I was sweating and cold. He squeezed it tightly in to his, his hand devouring my small one. "What are you doing?" he asked in a broken voice. I looked up at him with tears pooling inside my eyes. I hated crying – it showed weakness.

"You're not going to fight with Strigoi, are you?" he asked and I could see pain flash through those dark eyes I loved so much.

"Dimitri," I choked out. "I should. I'm responsible for what's happening now." I told him and hugged him as a single tear escaped from the corner of my eye.

"I'll go with you." He sounded certain of what he was saying.

I pulled away from him and looked up at him in horror. "No, please don't." I begged. "You don't know who we're dealing with."

"Don't worry, Roza." He wiped the tear that escaped from my eye but it was only followed by another one. "I can take care of myself without effort. All I need to be safe is _you_."

I growled – yes, I did. "You should _only_ be protecting Moroi." I grabbed a band and tied my hair tightly into a high ponytail. He ignored that and just looked at me soulfully.

"Stas," I called to him. "How about a little renegade pack?" I asked, trying to sound normal and unaffected.

He gave me a slight smile but I didn't believe it – he was sad, too. "Sure."

"Okay, let's go."

We went back to the balcony again and made our exit there. We climbed on to the abnormally big tree's branches that were just merely inches away from the balcony and we slipped easily to the ground – making no noise. We mimed everything we wanted to say so we would not attract attention from unwanted Strigoi. I gestured for them to follow me to the tree where Xander's carved signature was.

Stas' eyes widened in horrible realization and Dimitri just looked at me skeptically.

"XD." I smacked the tree bark's surface where _xD_ was etched.

"Xander Dashkov." Stas said, hi eyes showing fear and anger.

"Stas," I had just remembered that he was there when Xander fell off the glass window. "Do you know anything about this?"

I waited for him to answer me but the tears that sprung to his eyes confirmed my doubts. My breathing turned hard and shallow and tears blurred my vision again.

I knew enough of evil Xander to know what he would do. Xander was not only here to get me but he was attacking with an army of Strigoi to take revenge from the people who had taken me away from him. And the realization hit me that he was not just going to leave them with just scratches or broken arms – he was going to kill them. Lissa, Stansilav. I was sure that he had seen Dimitri and me on the balcony when we were oblivious to what was happening. He was going to kill everyone I loved.

"Stas," I looked up at him and a tear slipped out of my eye. "Do you know what this means?" Dimitri was quiet and lost in his own thoughts beside him. He frowned and shrugged.

"I'm an adult." He gave me a smile that was supposed to be convincing without the tears that quickly ran down his cheeks. "I know what I'm doing." He choked out – his voice was tight from holding back those tears that were already pouring down abundantly.

Dimitri, oblivious of Stas, asked, "You don't mean the prince?" Both Stas and I looked up at him and nodded.

He snorted, which surprised both of us. "So, what's the problem with the prince?" he asked as he absently stroked his silver stake.

Stas looked at me apologetically and I leaned on the tree for support. My legs always wanted to give out whenever Xander was mentioned.

"He was my boyfriend." I swallowed back tears that was about to shed. "We have been together for six months but we were in love. I loved Xander that was true." I nodded slowly and looked up at Dimitri who had his guardian mask on. I, unintentionally, let out a quiet, wistful sob. "He was _very_ mysterious. Leaving me notes, riddles and disappearing out of thin air." I was looking down at my shoes now. "It was bad enough that I loved his abstruse demeanor. I hadn't noticed even a one bit of clue on what he was planning." I said and pulled at my hair in frustration.

"Roza." Dimitri said in time with Stas saying, "Rose." and they reached out for me but I blocked their hands away.

"I should have known because it was so obvious." I continued, punching my left hand on the tree bark over and over again. "It's like it was shoved in front of my eyes for me just to see but I was blinded by that love for him." That was it, I just admitted it. Love was my weakness. "Love is my freaking weakness." I said out loud. "I should have known since I found his scarf at the forest where the car crash was." I looked up at Stas who was sucking his cheeks in – he always did that when he was contrite. "You were holding that scarf, Stas, when he fell. He even killed Lissa's family when he was still a Moroi, let alone now that he's a crazy Strigoi on the lose." I, too, should have known that Xander was a Strigoi but his occurrences in Lissa's dreams made me doubt it.

I exhaled loudly and made a dismissed gesture with my hands.

"Whatever." I looked at Dimitri who was frowning, his brows pulled together. "Did you know Xander?" I asked him and he looked at me in confirmation. "How?"

"He went to our school in Alaska once. Moved to another school three years later."

That caught my interest. I never did know where Xander had come from before he went here to Montana.

"When did he move in to Alaska?" I asked, the curiosity in my voice ringing out.

"About early 2006." He said and surveyed our surroundings. There had been a sound. Stas and Dimitri protectively stood in front of me. We could hear footsteps – lazy ones because the rhythm was sluggish and torpid. It wasn't a Strigoi but a human. No, a Moroi. Suddenly, a familiar color copper for a hair came into view with green eyes that were now unusually dull and empty. She was still wearing her checked oxford shirt, denim shorts and ballerina flats. But now, on her hands, was an envelope my name on it.

I hid my unease at a recollection of my dream I just had hours ago. Swallowing my fear, I slowly strode but stopped on my tracks before saying, "Oh, shit." because my legs felt prickly from the blood circulation – or lack thereof.

"That's Aleksandra." I told the boys when they blocked my way. They didn't move so I pushed them out of the way. I strode forward – ignoring the prickly pain on my leg and fears – to Aleksandra, took the envelope out of her hands and impulsively slapped her hard on the cheek.

Her blank green eyes rolled back and blinked. The blank expression on her face turned directly to pain. "Ow," she groaned in pain and touched her reddening cheek with both hands and went on her knees saying, "ow," over and over again. I kneeled next to her and touched her shoulder. She looked up at me.

"No." she choked out and looked at me accusingly. "Did you hit me?"

"I had to," – I shrugged innocently – "You were _entranced_." I waved the envelope in front of her eyes. "_And_ you brought news." I held out my hands to help her up.

I opened the note and quickly scanned.

_Rose,_

_Unfortunately, I had only brought seven Strigoi with me and your great army of guardians had already dispatched my little minions. But I have two boons of my own._

_I have Vasilisa with me; come and join me. If you do not, the life of your best friend lies in my hands and I know that you know full well what I will do to her._

_And second – with my Strigoi gone – I have my Moroi and dhampir zombies with me. _

_In some ways, they are worse than Strigoi so watch out. I don't want you dead. But if you do, I'll just awaken you._

_Love, _

_xD_

"Oh, what the hell." I grumbled and crumpled the paper and tossed it somewhere.

"What did it say?" asked Aleksandra who was still rubbing her cheek. The red mark was faintly outlined with my hand and it made it kind of funny to watch albeit everything else.

"Luckily, there are no more Strigoi."

I saw her visibly sigh in relief. "Well, you don't know how good that is to hear."

"_But_," Stas and Dimitri drawled loudly and I rolled my eyes at them.

"There's a but?" Aleksandra asked in disbelief.

"Everything has its fair share of buts." I told her in a wise voice. "_But_," I drawled like Stas and Dimitri. "There is an army of Moroi and dhampir zombies roaming up and about the palace looking for people they could chomp on." I didn't mention how it gave me the creeps to think about seeing all those blank eyes in person again.

"That's just way beyond freaky." She said and shivered.

"Nope. Scari_er_." I said and pointed at the corner of the garden where about twelve bunches of masked students were slowly walking towards us in a scarily slow and staggering pace.

"This is just like the movie Dawn of the Dead gone bad." I noted and I was caught in between running away or slapping all their faces to wake them up.

Aleksandra gasped and covered her gaping mouth. She looked at me in utter horror. "Was _I_ like that?" she asked, uncovering her mouth.

I made a face. "No, you were worse because you didn't have a mask on." I told her.

"Then was I like that?" she pointed at something behind me.

The three of us – Stas, Dimitri and I – looked at what she was pointing at and saw uniformed guardian now zombies staggering toward us like the scariest thing in the world.

I made a face again. "No, you looked better because you had make-up on." I said and wiggled my eyebrows. "Okay, damn it. Are we going to wake them up like what I did with her?" I pointed at Aleksandra. We exchanged looks and made the decision. I was _never_ going to mention how a single slap hurt my palm. Let alone what Aleksandra felt receiving that hard slap.

"Are we going to have a slapping contest?" asked Aleksandra.

"Yep." I told her and noted the boys' silence. "You get the guardians." I told the boys over my shoulder. "We'll take the Moroi and the novices." They grunted in agreement. "What are you – left-handed or right?" I asked Aleksandra.

"Right," she told me as she eyed all the Moroi that were slowly and scarily walking towards us – the suspense was starting to get painful.

"Here," I tossed her my right glove. "Slapping won't hurt much if you have that. Though silk is not as pain-free as leather."

"Aren't you right-handed?" she asked and slipped the glove on her right hand.

"I can use both." I told her. "If you slap, land the heel of your hand first and put as much impact as you can muster, got it?"

"I know how to slap, Rose. No need to tell me." – She looked at me in exasperation – "But if you tell me to punch, I'll probably break my own hand. I tried once."

I laughed – it felt good to really laugh out of humor. Not something forced out of.

We slapped the Moroi and dhampir novices – dodging their scary slashes and rabid bites – in about half an hour. We only had to slap because if somebody finds out we've been out punching Moroi, we would get expelled – or rather_ I_ will get expelled. The novices and Moroi now were unidentifiable but I still noticed that smart-ass Jesse Zeklos' mask. I took it as a chance to punch him on his perfect, sculpted nose and he collapsed on the ground. We had slapped about half of them when I started screaming – uh, not exactly screaming, but my palm just hurt too much from slapping.

"I thought you were trained better than this, Rose." chastised Aleksandra.

"I was trained to punch, not to slap." I said through clenched teeth. And speaking of training… "What element do you specialize in?"

"Water." She panted out. "Not competent against Strigoi, sorry."

And an idea occurred to me. Why hadn't I thought about this earlier? We could have had saved our palms the pain. "But it may be competent with them!" I gestured at the thickening mob of zombies. The others we had slapped were passed out on the ground – they probably had too much to drink.

"If we shower them with water it would probably wake them up."

"But there is _no_ water here."

"There is a fountain at the front gate." I said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Right…" we turned our backs on the Moroi and dhampir zombies and ran to the boys and we caught them red-handed. Literally.

"You didn't have to slap them," I told them and saw that Stas was blowing on his red palm. They looked up at me moronically.

"They were guardians so you need not have to use less brute by _slapping_ them." I told them like they were mentally retarded. "That's why I assigned them to you." I continued and another thing popped inside my head. "Hey, have you seen Stan?" Both boys rolled their eyes at me. Ah, they knew me so well.

All guardians were awake by now and we told them to take care of the Moroi and dhampirs that were passed out. We told them that everything was clear and okay. I didn't tell the others about the rest of the letter. I needed to get Lissa by myself and…and _kill_ Xander for good. I _needed_ to do it by myself, too.

"Boys, kindly help us lead the zombies to the front gate where the fountain is because we can't slap each and every one of their faces without getting our palms burned." I said and they did what I told them to do without any questions. We ran about half a mile to the front gate of the palace – the palace was, believe it or not, more than thirty acres big. The zombies followed us with more speed than they had a while ago which scared the hell out of me.

We were at the fountain by now and the boys were on our tails with the "deadly" army of zombies. They weren't like Strigoi but hell, they were scary. When you get too close to them, they grab your hair without warning or try to bite. They attempted doing that about twenty-two times by now.

Aleksandra quickly concentrated and did her taboo magic but it was urgent – there was no time to listen to rules now. The water from the fountain rose from their bed onto the air just above us. Aleksandra waited until the zombies were close enough to shower them with cold, evening water from the fountain. It was just like a slap on their faces too. They blinked and collapsed on the ground all soggy and wet.

All of us breathed a sigh of relief.

"It worked." announced Aleksandra.

"Good job, Aleksandra." I congratulated her with a high-five. "So what now, Rose?" I asked myself. My mind was still spinning because Xander had Lissa and I had to go to him in order to save my best friend but these lost puppies (Stas and Dimitri) weren't letting me go without them.

"Well, I'm taking off to find Andy." She made a face. "_And _wake-up more zombies on my way if there still are with my trusty powers." She said and cocked her head to the side with a funny look on her face. "You've been receiving a lot of letters lately. And flowers. Anyone I know?"

She noticed – I should have given her more credit for being more skeptical.

"It's nothing. They were just from Abe." I lied smoothly.

"Rose…" Stas started.

"It's really nothing, Stas." I gave them a convincing smile.

"Don't worry, Rose. We're not going to let anything happen to you." I preferred Dimitri calling me Roza.

"Good luck to you two – whatever you are doing." Aleksandra said and started taking off her ballet flats. "Come on, if you're going to do something heroic and awesome tonight, you need to be aggressive. Dress for battle and don't put that to a shame." She pointed at my dress – er, top and skirt.

"Of course I will not –" a piercing scream interrupted my thoughts. I swiftly looked around the place. "Did you just hear that?" I asked them.

They shook their heads. "No." they chorused. It was maybe I was out of my mind or I just felt a weird sense of _déjà_vu. I heard a scream again and bile rose to my throat when I recognized that it was Lissa's. It was followed by another scream.

It was my own.

Then as much as I hated to admit it, I blacked out.

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**So, what do you think happened to Lissa?**

**What will Xander do to her?**

**SUSPENSE! SUSPENSE!  
**

**You'll find out soon if you keep in touch with me.**

**Just a note for the people who hates me now: I'm not cruel, okay?**

**Love lots.**

**Kate**


	23. TwentyThree: Broken Bond

**Please don't hate me. I'm not this cruel. I'm doing this for a reason. Peace to all.**

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**Chapter 23**

**Broken Bond  
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My mind was cloudy and vague and I had the impression of being carried and people examining me. It wasn't that much time when I woke up in the blue and white room where I had been before. Nobody was with me and I felt cold and alone. As soon as my mind registered what had happened, I jumped out of bed a little too loudly.

I waited for someone to barge into the room but no-one did. The room was queasily quiet. My head was aching so much. I looked for my meds and saw that it was on the vanity table – I took the ones Andrea had given me before and the pain slowly subsided and it only made me think clearer about how things had been.

It made my indecision decided. Without thinking, I went to the balcony and jumped out of it with the help on another tree's branch with my ballet flats in hand. I hadn't been able to wear it because I just saw it when I passed by. My hair was still intact in its tight ponytail and my holster felt empty. I quickly fumbled on my holster for the stake and sighed in relief when I felt the cold surface of the silver stake.

I looked for a secluded place to hide so I could search for Lissa's mind without disturbed. I ran towards the woods without thinking – only impulsively moving, just going with the flow of my body's wanted destination. It was like I was drawn to the trees. After all, the woods were my sanctuary back at the academy. I ran and ran, not knowing where I was going. I let my feet take control of everything.

It wasn't long when I stopped intentionally. I could hear voices. Very faint ones. I didn't want to hang out and listen to it but it was like when I heard the _voice_ everything just fuses together – the past and the present. I cautiously took one step forward, not making any sound. All I could hear was the faint mumblings and the fast beat of my heart. I wish nobody could hear it – it was beating too loud, making it hurt.

I focused on putting one foot forward then another until the voice was audible enough for me to understand.

"– easy for me. I could compel the whole world to search for her. Though, that will not happen. She _will_ come." Xander's voice was like a slap on my face – it hurt so much to hear that he was alive after those months of my mourning for him. He didn't deserve those mourns now, I knew what he always wanted to do to me.

I heard whimpers. "No." Lissa's voice croaked like a frog. My natural guardian instinct told me to bolt right away and attack Xander but the self-preserving part of me told me to stay put and keep quiet. I chose to stay put and keep quiet – that seemed reasonable.

"Rose, if you could hear me now, don't come here." She said weakly and I felt a pang inside my heart that had long died. It died with my normality but now, I had it back. I didn't feel empty now but… I just felt light. There was no longer any burden there.

"She can't hear you – your bond is broken." I heard Xander say and from his tone, he sounded bored.

"No, it can't be." Lissa whimpered again and I _really_ wanted to bolt and attack now. I chose to be reasonable again. I, now, did my actions with thinking. I could think properly now, there was no darkness nor there was a voice that was urging me to do something I didn't want to.

Suddenly, Xander's words seemed to make sense. When Lissa and I hadn't been bonded, I was like this.

_No, it can't be_, it wasn't Pat who said that but it was just I. _Our bond can't be broken, Lissa's not dead. I'm not dead. Neither of us is._

"Why is our bond broken?" Lissa asked my silent question. "You didn't kill Rose, did you?" she tried to sound normal but I could hear that she was scared and horrified.

Xander's laugh sent chills down my spine – it was ironic at how Xander's laugh sent warmth to me before.

"I _did_ kill you."

"Then why am I not dead?"

"It's because I healed you." Xander said and I gasped. Yes, I just gasped out loud.

I heard some dried leaves crack and I felt someone behind the tree I was leaning at. I heard a deep intake of breath and a sigh.

"Oh, she _is_ already here." Xander said and my heart pounded hard – I locked up. I couldn't do anything. All I could think about was how I screwed up and the breath that was on my neck.

"My beautiful Rose," Xander murmured and I felt his nose skim down on my jaw to my neck. I stiffened, bracing myself for the fangs to prick on my skin. It didn't come. Xander's hands wandered around my body, making me shiver from his touches – I didn't like that I still had this effect on him.

On the spur of the moment, I had something planned at the back of my mind and I didn't like it but it was worth it. I needed Lissa safe – I could take care of myself, after all. I took Xander's hand in mine and wrapped it around my waist. I looked into his jade green eyes and imagined that they were the dark, dark eyes that I loved so much. I was kissing Xander but I just imagined that those lips against mine were Dimitri's. I kissed him like I did with Dimitri and it hurt. It hurt me to think that I was risking everything I already had just to protect a Moroi. At the back of my head, I was repeating over and over again my guardian mantra: _They come first._ If imagining it was Dimitri's lips against mine wasn't working, that helped a little. But when my mind just registers the thought of Dimitri, it just consumes me, making me strong and determined.

A sob built up in my chest like it was set up on cue. In reality, I was crying over what my life had gone into but this act was to coax Xander at how I "loved" him and "missed" him and other things that in love couples do and say.

_Dimitri, I love you._

"Xander, I love you." I whispered against his lips as tears ran down my face – hoping it was convincing him. I wrapped my arms around his body and imagined that they were the muscular torso of my Russian lover. I buried my face on his chest and cried almost endlessly. He kept stroking my hair – saying nothing, just like what Dimitri would do. I erased that hideous thought away from my mind quickly. I couldn't believe that I had just compared Xander to Dimitri – they were two opposites in my life. They could never be one of the same thing.

"Ah, Rose, do you really love me?" his tone surprised me – it was sarcastic and jealous. "Or are you just thinking about you _Russian lover_?" Shit, I couldn't believe it. Still, his demeanor didn't make my act waver.

I pulled away from him, putting on a shocked and heart-broken face. "How could you think of that?!" I screamed and I felt satisfied when I heard my voice crack.

He leaned against the tree, his face now cast on the shadows. "Because I _saw_ you two making out at the balcony." He said and as the shadows covered his eyes, the red of his eyes lit up like a light. It was vivid red – not the color of dried blood I had always seen with Strigoi. It was so bright and red it looked like they had no pupils at all.

"What you saw was nothing, Xander." I told him and rubbed my goose-bumped arms. I had that feeling again that I was being watched. "I did it because…" I swallowed and allowed myself to say what I hated the most. "…I did it because I missed you, Xander." My lips trembled and I bit it – willing myself not to cry again because I already felt ridiculous before but now I felt dirty and used. I made myself dirt over falling in love with a royal Moroi and used myself for an obligation I swore to do.

_It's not only for Lissa, Rose_, I told myself. _You're doing this for Dimitri, too._

With the thought of Dimitri's safety, I became determined and strong again. I stood up to Xander and braced myself for… for _something_.

"You think I would believe that?" Xander asked sharply but I saw that the red on his eyes were dimming.

"How could you not believe it, Xander?" I asked and looked away from his eyes – it was what I did when I was telling the truth. Around him, anyway.

"I've seen you with him before. At the woods, I was there."

This was harder than I thought it would be. "That was you? The person who called me?"

"Yes, it was me. I've been keeping a close eye on you."

"Are you doubting my love for you, Xander? What happened with Dimitri was a _mistake_." I managed to choke out the word. What I had with Dimitri was not a mistake – I didn't regret falling for him. He made me see the world like it was the first time I had seen it. He made me feel complete. "I was just…_passing my time_ with him." I told him and I was, again, in the verge of tears. It was hard – very hard to lie about my feelings for Dimitri.

Xander looked at me skeptically but maybe he saw something there that made him think that I was not lying, he walked to me and I could see that his gracefulness was still there. I thought about how Dimitri moved like that, too, as much as I hated to admit.

He lifted his hand and stroked my wet cheek.

"I didn't mean to upset you, Rose." His voice was as soft as velvet but I could still feel his tension. He leaned down and kissed my lips hard. Our kiss – or rather his kiss was deep and hungry, I didn't respond to it for a while but when he tensed again, I kissed him back and I hoped it convinced him. I was almost lost on the feel on his lips against mine when I heard footsteps – surely enough, Xander didn't notice them because he was _too_ busy kissing me.

I saw Stas. He had a silver stake in his hand and the look on his face made me want to cry again. It was anger, longing and many more things. I just looked back at him – I couldn't do anything. He quietly walked towards us, raised the stake fast and plunged it to Xander's back.

But he didn't. Xander pulled away from me and knocked Stas' stake away effortlessly in one flick of his wrist. Stas turned offensive and attacked Xander. Xander fought back, too. They were too well matched. I wanted to stake Xander now so everything would be okay but Stas gave me – or so I thought he gave me – the look that he was going to take care of it. I didn't believe him first but he just shouted at me –he never shouts at me. He was serious. I obeyed him and left them there and I ran to Lissa and saw a dagger just meters away from where she was tied on the tree.

Lissa looked depressed, and tired. Her gown was all torn, dirty and bloody and the platinum of her hair spilled down to her shoulders with leaves and dirt with them. When she saw me, her eyes widened in complete relief.

"Rose," she gasped and tears brimmed on her eyes and her head sagged, she was too hurt and weary to stay conscious. I could see that she still had wounds on her arm and neck and what disgusted me the most was that her neck was covered with dried blood.

Oh, no, Xander didn't. My anger flared up and I turned back to get the knife but it wasn't there anymore.

"Looking for this?" Xander asked from behind me. I whirled around and saw that he had an unconscious Stas on one of his arm. He was holding the dagger in the darkness as if it was the most valuable thing in the world.

I made my move. By mistake, though. When I had just only taken one step forward to him, he moved and slashed the dagger across Stas' throat. I shrieked. That was all I could do. Stas' throat started to drip with blood and I was just motionless. I felt nothing. Seeing nothing except for the precious red liquid that was the only source of life to my friend. Watching as each drop of red liquid steal his life away.

Xander dropped Stas' body to the ground and roughly pulled me towards him, the dagger on the side of my neck. The cold pointy surface of it pinched my skin and it was sharp enough to draw blood.

"You lied to me, my dear Rose." He whispered to my ear as I looked at Stas' unmoving, bloody body on the ground. This was my fault. I had caused many people's deaths. The concept kept popping inside my mind but I felt nothing – I was just _numb_.

"Why did you lie?" asked Xander, interrupting my thoughts.

"Because I had to in order to save them." I said as truthfully as I could.

"Oh, so now you're risking your life just to save _them_."

"I'm not risking my life when I'm around you." I lied and bit my dagger's sharp point pierced my skin. "Don't lie to me, Rose." It was a warning.

"I'm not lying, Xander."

I heard him growl and he pierced the dagger's point on my upper-arm and down until it made a big gash there. The pain was treacherously slow – making my throat constrict from the restraint of screaming. Blood slowly trickled out of them and I managed to not throw up at its scent.

"Rose, you know I don't like you lying to me." he said slowly and ran the dagger's tip right below my throat. I swallowed loudly.

When I opened my mouth to say something, nothing went out. I was shocked to see Dimitri there. Right behind the tree where Lissa was tied. He looked deadly on his stance – I'd never seen him like this before, so wound up and on edge. He was just usually somber and quiet. I couldn't see if he had a silver stake in hand but I was sure he was ready to fight.

He always was.

Then realization hit me – Stas was already dead, Lissa's barely alive and he's here where he was vulnerable. He could die, too. I couldn't let that happen. The pain of losing him was just too much for me to handle. As I had long promised, I would protect anyone I loved. That was an oath that I would never back down from.

He probably saw that through my eyes because his eyes widened in panic and it all but shouted at me, "Don't!"

_I love you, Dimitri._

Dimitri went into action, ran toward Xander that should make a Strigoi proud. Xander wasn't impressed.

"Compel him." I pleaded with Xander.

Dimitri stopped on his tracks and his eyes turned confused and then blanked out.

"Xander…" I choked out. "I'll join you. Willingly." I told him and I felt his hands relax against mine. I had to do this – sacrifice myself for Dimitri's life. I couldn't win now. Dimitri's essence was better than life itself. "Only for two conditions."

"And what are those conditions, my love?" Xander asked, his red eyes looking down to mine.

Tears blurred my vision and I hated how my weakness could affect me this way. It was cruel. "Please, don't kill Dimitri. Compel him to go away to somewhere he is safe and…" as much as it broke my heart to say it, I did. "…and make him forget about me. About our past. Everything in his life that included me." a let out a sad sob and I couldn't help but just cry there. "And let Lissa go. She has nothing to do with this."

Xander – looking smug – compelled Dimitri what I asked him to do.

"You didn't know Rose Hathaway. You haven't been to Montana. You will go back where you had been before and continue a normal life." Xander was saying. Dimitri absently nodded. "And, oh, I don't need the princess anymore. Bring her back to the palace if she's still alive."

Dimitri nodded again and untied Lissa and carried her. Something in Dimitri's eyes made me want to break down right now - it looked almost accusing and... hurt. Of course he was hurt. I just let some insane Strigoi use compulsion on him to forget his past. He had every right to be.

I just looked at nothing but his tall, muscular build. I would miss Dimitri terribly and I would miss being humane, too. I hoped that there was another way.

_There is_, a voice whispered inside my head and it wasn't Pat.

_What is?_ I asked to no-one.

_There is always hope in life,_ it said and faded away.

What the hell did that mean? And then it clicked.

I had the chance to kill Xander now, with Dimitri and Lissa safe and gone and Stas… dead, he couldn't hurt anybody else.

I slowly fiddled the hem of my mini-hakama skirt while I focused my eyes on him.

"You made the right choice, Rose." He said and before I could do anything, he slashed my skin that was just below the breastbone. He didn't hit a vein. But he did hit a nerve.

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**Cliffy! **

**As I think all of you know, Stas was my Mason. :)**

**What do you think will happen to Rose?**

**Where will Dimitri go?**

**So if you want me to continue, please REVIEW.**

**And puh-lease don't hate me for killing Stas, breaking Lissa and Rose's bond, and sending Dimitri off. I'm just doing these things for many REASONS. And I think you know how my reasons affect the whole plot.**

**Love lots.**

**Kate**


	24. The Epilogue

**I'm sorry for cutting this off so soon but I liked the cliff-hanger. :)**

**Don't worry about our dear Dimka. ;p  
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**Epilogue**

The last ounce of my medication frayed out of my system and turned into ashes (metaphorically). Even without Lissa's bond now, my temper was still inevitably dangerous. My fist shot up from its place on my hip and back-handed Xander. But before my fist could connect his face, he had already caught the ball of my fist and pain suddenly surged through that wrist of mine.

He had cut me there on my wrist and it bled as badly as the one on my arm.

I sagged in Xander's arms and hoped he thought that I was already giving in. he didn't let me go but he loosened his unrelenting hold on me. Despite my pain and blood loss I was experiencing, I was still able to plan out my only way of salvation.

In a movement too fast for Xander to anticipate from me, I pulled away from him and grabbed my stake from its place on my holster. I crouched, positioning the stake before me – making sure Xander saw that I had a weapon in hand. That I wasn't totally damsel-in-distress-helpless like he always thought I was.

He stayed motionless in front of me, his eyes red and blank. He just stared at the silver stake clutched tightly on my hand.

"You can never get away from me, my love." He growled all of a sudden and charged to attack me. I dodged his attack and side-kicked him on the ribs. An involuntary smile crept up to my lips when I heard an audible crack from his chest. I wondered why it did but maybe the week of seclusion inside the infirmary didn't make my years of training be forsaken.

Xander grunted in pain and staggered a little on his attacks. We fought grappling and punching each other. I could see blood all over place and I doubled my efforts on my fighting skills of not throwing up at what I was seeing. I knew full well that it was all my blood and that only made Xander more savage than before. His eyes turned a color of bright crimson and his pupils caved in – making him look more frightening. I should note that for such a new Strigoi, he had a lot of self-control.

He bared his long, white fangs at me and snarled.

"Don't fight me, Rose. You're mine." he growled lowly to me while he pinned my wrist on the ground.

"Nobody owns me." I snarled back at him. He just laughed. "If I am anybody's, I'm Dimitri's." I snapped at him and kneed him hard on his groin while he laughed. It was probably hard enough to take him aback. I kneed him again and gathered all my strength on my wrists to unclench his hold on my wrist and punched him squarely on his face. I could feel the skin on my knuckles tear from the impact I had mustered.

He toppled off me and growled – his growl reverberated in the air around us, it felt like there was an earth quake. Suddenly, Xander screamed loudly and clawed at the ground.

I stood up quickly from where I was and saw that a protruding root of a tree from the ground had punctured his back. And the weird thing was that I thought that I saw the root moving, making Xander scream more.

I looked around for my stake and saw that it was under an unusual multi-colored tree. I ran to it as fast as I could but my adrenaline was dying out now – I started to feel the pain of my open wounds. I groaned and practically stumbled toward the silver stake. I caught it and summoned all my strength to stand up and end all of Xander's misery from the tree's root but when I turned around, he was neither writhing nor was he on the ground.

He was there, not two five feet away from me, standing but I could see that he had lost some of his usual elegance. He looked like a predator ready to attack his prey.

I knew what he was about to do first – knock my stake away again. I shakily put my stake back to its holster. I almost felt like I was losing – falling away from this world. My heart was pumping hard and so was my blood. It slipped out of my skin faster every pump of my heart made.

"Would you save your precious Dimitri from me?" he asked and bared his fangs again.

I already knew the answer to that by heart.

"In a heartbeat." I said weakly and faked left – taking my stake out of its sheath – then swung it at his right side as he moved there. I hit him hard on the ribs and he backed away, stumbling as he did so. His eyes were wide and pain-filled and he clutched his right side, blood escaped from those long white fingers on his ribs.

He wasn't going to die if I wouldn't stake him on the heart.

I crouched next to him. "I would do everything it takes to make him safe." I spat at him but before he could even breathe in the air for an answer, I had already staked him on the heart. I watched as the bright red of his eyes fade and saw the light of life in his eyes gloom. Before he was completely out, I heard him gasp out weakly, "I'm sorry." And then he didn't move again.

I felt tears spring to my eyes. It wasn't only him I was crying for but for all the people I had lost today.

I walked to where Stas' body laid and saw that it hadn't moved from where it was before. His skin was very pale and I still could see a feeble rise and fall on his chest.

I let out a sob and walked quickly toward him, cradling half his body with me. I could still feel the faintest thumping of his heart and I started to get to my feet again but his voice stopped me.

"Rose," it was so faint I could barely hear it. But from the silence here, it was just like a whisper of the wind. I looked down at him. "Don't leave me."

"I have to go call for help." I almost whined. Stas looked like he was really at the end of his rope – which was really the case.

"No, don't leave," I almost cried at how he sounded – it was every bit of pleading. He feebly wrapped his now pale arms around my bloody waist. He buried his face there and sobbed quietly on my stomach.

I fought the urge to call for help and leave Stas but the way he handled himself now, I couldn't get myself to leave his side even for a second. I loved Stas like my brother and he loved me back in a different way I hadn't expected him to.

I stroked his messy golden locks as tears silently rolled down from my burning eyes.

"I love you, Rose." He said in a more firm voice. He looked up to me and I brushed away stray strands of golden hair from his face. His blue eyes twinkled with tears and I could see that despite everything else, he was…happy. "You are worth dying for." Those words cut through my heart like knife. It hurt so much to think that he died for me. It made me feel so, so selfish.

Something escaped from my lips that sounded like a groan and a cry. Tears streamed out of my eyes endlessly and I couldn't take his love for granted anymore.

He deserved this. I leaned down to him while I tilted his head up. His eyes were still adorable dark blue and I kissed each one of those deep fathoms of blue that I would miss so much before I kissed his lips.

The tears that I had tried so hard to hold back came spilling out. I felt his response right away – it was weak but still loving.

I pulled away and hugged him tightly to my chest, sobbing again.

"I love you, too, Stas. I always will." I told him.

My love for him was very different from what I had with Dimitri. Stas was always a brother to me and he always will be. For Dimitri, he was always welcome in my heart if he ever comes back. My heart still yearned for him and I think it would always stay that way.

"Take care of your self for me." was his last words before I saw the remaining light of life on his eyes fade slowly and then…nothing.

I closed his eyes and kissed his lids before I hugged him tightly to me, crying hard again. We rocked ourselves back and forth. I was never the one who was emotional but Stas meant a lot to me. He almost meant more to me than my mom was.

Eventually, my tears dried and I stopped convulsing on gasps. The pain on my body was crucial and I was covered in both wet and dried blood. Even from time, the wounds still bled.

I covered the pain with attitude.

"See you both in hell." I mumbled like a mad woman.

I felt so weak and sleepy. I groaned in pain and pushed Stas' body away as calmly as I could. I carefully stood up and black figures clouded my vision again. My headache was indescribable, too.

"Why in hell, darling?" as soon as I heard that voice, the pain subsided. It sounded so familiar with that faint Russian accent. It was Dimitri. Still, I didn't face him when I replied – still embarrassed that I had let Xander compel him. Now, it seemed like the stupidest thing in the world to do. I, now, even doubted that he could even get compelled.

I closed my eyes, guilty.

"Because heaven would never accept me there." I could see the horizon well from here – the sun peeked through the sky, making pale pink and grey color the sky.

"Why not?" he asked rhetorically and I could hear the dried leaves crack at every step he made. "Your beauty could only be compared to an angel's."

My old Rose Hathaway self revived itself with a shock. I turned around full on him, a reprisal-tongued retort ready to trigger but it died on my lips as soon as I saw who was in front of me.

My brows furrowed and I raised my index finger, trying to point out something inside my head.

"Uh, have we met before?" I swear that those sea-glass green eyes and dark locks looked familiar. He was wearing a mask that covered half the length of his face and its color made me think about rich people wasting their money for some precious metal. There was a small tear-shaped stone that was rolling inertly down. He was tall, too. Almost as tall as Dimitri and lean but not as lean as Dimitri.

"You look familiar." I whispered mostly to myself.

He raised his hand to take off his mask, revealing a long pinkish-red scar across the masked side of his face.

"Do I?" he asked, a smile playing on his lips.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**Young Love is finished but I promise I will write a sequel so put me on your author alert.  
**

**Questions are welcome.**

**Thank you all so much for supporting me. This would have never existed if it wasn't all for you. I love you, guys.**

**Sincerely,**

**Kate **


	25. The Sequel

**Young Love already has a sequel. If you didn't know, I already uploaded the Prologue and the first chapter. Please read and review it.**

**I'll be updating soon. Like, tomorrow. Still have my classes and difficult exams. **

**xD  
**

**I love you, guys.**

**Kate**

**:D  
**


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